Loud Triangle
by Your Saving Grace is Here
Summary: Luan Loud cherishes her friendships. As the years rush by, the bond she shares with her two best friends grows stronger, but as she continues to crush on one of them, the other develops a crush on her, putting her in an awkward love triangle that could very well threaten both friendships. Age-progression story. Retroactively AU. Rated T for Maggie alone.
1. Foreword

**A/N: I ordinarily don't write up a bunch of author's notes, and/or anything of the sort to include in my fanfiction stories -because nobody wants to be bothered with such, anyway- but this time, I think this is necessary, so please allow me a moment to elaborate:**

**I was inspired to write this story based solely on my observation of the stark contrast between _Loud House_ canon and fanon. Canon clearly shows that Luan and Maggie have never actually met each other: Luan simply performed as a mime at Maggie's birthday party (mainly to bail Lincoln's butt out for darned-near ruining it with his clowning pratfalls) and that's it... they never spoke to each other, they never interacted with each other, and they most likely don't even know each other. (That COULD change, though; even though former storyboard artist/character designer Miguel Puga admits he had forgotten all about Maggie - despite designing her - current storyboard artist Ari Castleton has confirmed that she IS returning). Fanon, on the other hand, ships Luan with Maggie so much, she's probably shipped with her over Benny at a ratio of about three to one.**

**As such, I was pretty much inspired to write a fanfiction story that could sort of bridge the gap between canon and fanon, and see how Luan and Maggie could actually become more acquainted with each other, over a more natural and gradual frame of time. At the same time, I get the feeling that with 6.1K other stories in this fanfiction community, there's bound to probably be other stories involving Luan in such a love triangle with Benny and Maggie... if there are, and somehow any element(s) of my story is/are too similar to somebody else's story/stories, it will end up, once again, being purely coincidental ****(I'm actually mining through the personal experiences of myself and people I've known as inspiration for plot elements).**** My observations on this phenomenon are based mostly on fan art, rather than fanfiction, and I haven't taken the time to browse through this community to see what's already out there in terms of this subject... but, if there are any such stories that you want to recommend me checking out, by all means, please do, and I'll add them to my reading list.**

**Now, before anyone has a cow or a hissy fit, thinking that this story may be biased toward one ship over another, let me go ahead and just set the record straight: I could care less who Luan is shipped with. I stopped shipping years ago: these very kind of ship wars in fandoms are what have killed the fun of shipping for me. This story isn't being written to posture one ship over another, or take any pot shots against certain shippers; I'm just exploring how Luan and Maggie could be brought together within the context of _Loud House_ canon - so please no complaining or whining if you don't like whatever direction this story ends up going in terms of shipping - ain't got no time to put up with petty little ship wars.**

**It should also be noted that I will have no other choice but to advance the _Loud House_ timeline a couple of years into the future in this story, thus making Maggie a Royal Woods High student, which will give her a logical reason to further grow more acquainted with Luan and the two of them to see each other on a more regular basis. I am aware that apparently in the upcoming new season, all of the characters will be aged up a year, and moving on to the next grade, but I know nothing about how Nickelodeon plans on executing any of this (given this the same network that used to forbid character growth and development on their shows - Joe Murray had to fight them to get Filburt and Dr. Hutchison married on _Rocko's Modern Life_), so my timeline in this fanfiction story is most likely not even going to align itself with what will eventually become canon within the next year; nothing I can do about that. As a matter of fact, even though I've already been working on this story for a while, it's already retroactively re-classified as an AU story anyway - I'll go into more detail about why that is in a later chapter. I promise this story won't be nearly as dark and suspenseful as _The Missing Loud_ was, however, as noted, this story is being rated T because in ensuing chapters, some of Maggie's behavior, and the language she'll be using warrants such a rating (angsty emo teen and all).**

**Lastly, I don't really have any personal _Loud House_ headcanons, however, I will occasionally be making references to the aforementioned _The Missing Loud_ (including mentioning a couple of OCs); although a couple of people have asked me, no, I'm not actually doing a follow-up to that story myself (though my offer still stands if anybody else out there is interested in doing their own since there seems to be a bit of interest in that), and as such, this story is NOT a direct follow-up to it. Speaking of which, if you haven't already, I would recommend reading it... if you want... I mean, you don't have to, but it'd make those little details later in the story make less nonsense.**

**So, without further ado, let's move onto our first chapter, shall we?**


	2. Chapter 1: Repeat Business

**A/N: This chapter is picking up where "Funny Business" left off, with Luan having just saved Lincoln's butt from ruining Maggie's thirteenth birthday party, but we'll also be fast-forwarding approximately one year into the future. I know everybody else likes to think Luan and Maggie befriended each other right then and there on the spot at the party... well, I'm not everybody else, and I feel like there needs to be more progression between the two, rather than just throwing them together on the first day. For the sake of this story, and to help make Maggie feel more like an actual character you can invest in, I'm making up a random last name for her as well, since she doesn't have one.**

**Also, Luan reprises a pantomime performance in this chapter that originated in**_** The Missing Loud.**_

* * *

Luan Loud, fourteen-year-old performer and entrepreneur, was sitting atop a yellow unicycle, pedaling down the sidewalk in a suburban neighborhood of Royal Woods, Michigan, with a suitcase in her hand containing a pair of mime outfits and a clown suit, and a sack of whoopee cushions slung over her shoulder; following behind her, pulling a little red wagon full of a variety of different comedy props and other equipment was her little brother, and relatively new business assistant, Lincoln. They were returning home from a gig Lincoln had nearly ruined that Luan came to bail him out of: Lincoln had more-or-less committed an act of mutiny by usurping Luan's business -Funny Business, Inc., she called it- and hiring himself out as a clown to perform at children's birthday parties. He had a sure-fire act: falling on his butt... the kids seemed to love it, and it was what he became known for... that is, until this most recent booking: a party full of angsty emo tweens - a 'mope fest,' as Luan would call it. The tweens and their parents were anything but entertained by Lincoln's pratfalls, and none of them were more upset than the birthday girl herself: now thirteen-year-old Maggie Crawford, who repeatedly whined to her mother about hiring the 'loser clown' who was ruining everything: her poster, her cake, and her whole birthday party. Finally, in desperation, said loser clown called on his older sister to help bail him out - not just because his act was bombing, but also because he was ruining the reputation of Funny Business, Inc. - HER business. After arriving to the party, Luan realized what her audience would prefer over Lincoln's clowning act, and performed a series of pantomime vignettes that her audience seemed to really respond to with such enthusiasm... slow and listless, yet strangely choreographed and synchronized applause.

"Thanks for saving my butt, you were amazing out there," said Lincoln, following behind his sister as they returned home. "And, sorry for the way I was acting."

"It's okay," said Luan, forgiving her brother for his selfish actions. "I remember how great it was to get my first laugh; I shouldn't have been so harsh. Still my assistant?"

"Still your assistant!" Lincoln exclaimed, as he reached out and grabbed the sack of whoopee cushions. "Let me get those for you!"

Upon grabbing the sack from his sister's shoulder, it ripped open, spilling the whoopee cushions onto the sidewalk, which he accidentally slipped on, flopping himself atop the mountain of fart-inducing props, much to Luan's amusement, as she released some genuine chuckles at her brother's misfortune.

"You know, that actually WAS kind of funny. Here, let me help-" But before Luan could finish her sentence, her unicycle also slipped on a stray whoopee cushion, causing it to go flying out from under her. "WHOA! GOOD GRAVY!" She exclaimed, before she too landed atop the pile, releasing more farting sounds, much to her and her brother's delight, as they decided to let loose and horse around a little bit, "HIAWATHA!"

The siblings bounced around on the cushions, creating a bizarre symphony of farts until they eventually flattened the cushions within the pile, making their landings harder and less comfortable. Afterwards, they rested on the sidewalk for a brief moment, as Lincoln got to thinking about Luan's pantomime performance back at the party.

"Those guys really go for all that mime stuff, don't they?" Lincoln asked.

"Yep, they sure do!" Luan said, as she reached over and flipped her brother's snow white cowlick.

"But... how did you know?" Lincoln asked.

Luan proceeded to share her expertise with her brother, as she watched the clouds pass by, "When you're a performer, you gotta know who your audience is, and what their tastes are... falling on your butt may appeal to little children, and maybe even some of the elderly... emo tweens? They're a more... 'sophisticated' audience..." said Luan, for a lack of a better word. "They like something with a little deeper meaning to it... something that can convey the complexity of human emotion through the simplicity of interpretive movement. That's something that really speaks to them on a deeper level."

Lincoln was blown away, "Wow, Luan, I had no idea... I thought comedy was ageless."

"Not at all," said Luan, reaching over and running her finger across Lincoln's shoulder. "Comedy is a lot more complicated than you can imagine... it's like a schmorgesborg: there's different kinds of comedy for different kinds of people with different kinds of tastes."

"Luan?" Lincoln began. "I really have a deeper respect for you and Funny Business, Inc. now... I mean, I can see this goes beyond just you being a silly clown... you really know what you're doing, and you're really good at it."

Luan blushed, moving her hand upward to caress her brother's head, "That may have been the biggest compliment I've ever gotten. Thanks, Linc. Well, I think we've had a long enough break; come on, let's this stuff back inside and start refilling these whoopee cushions."

Back at the Crawford household, the party had come to an end, and the guests departed to return to their own homes; Maggie's Mom walked back into the house, and found her birthday girl sitting at the island counter in the kitchen... SMILING... it was a sight that was becoming increasingly rarer as she grew older, but one that thrilled her mother, as she sat across from her, "Did you enjoy your party, dear?"

"Not until that mime girl came," said Maggie, in her nasally, yet deadpan valley girl voice. "She, like, literally saved my party after that loser clown ruined it."

Maggie's Mom happily breathed a sigh of contented relief at her hard-to-please daughter FINALLY being satisfied with SOMETHING, "Well, I'm really happy to hear that, Maggie. She did put on a good show, didn't she?"

"Totally, I really dug it," said Maggie. "From now on, I don't want any dumb clowns at my parties, but I'd love it if that mime girl could come back."

"Well, I have her business card," said Maggie's Mom, as she looked it over. "Funny Business, Inc... Luan Loud... if she's still performing next year, I'll hire her again!"

"Cool," said Maggie.

* * *

Sure enough, a year later, a now-fifteen-year-old Luan, still operating Funny Business, Inc., had been contacted by Maggie's Mom to perform another pantomime at her daughter's fourteenth birthday party. Luan had still be doing mostly clown shows for children's parties, as well as other comedy shows for local clubs in Royal Woods and even surrounding communities, but calls for pantomime were something she did not get too many of - and fortunately, she had a whole new original performance piece she knew her audience would love.

As with the previous year, Maggie's fourteenth birthday party was another 'mope fest'; she and her emo friends were even more angsty this year, because there seemed to be a lot of factors that were threatening to ruin the party, such as an increase of cloudy weather threatening to rain the party out with an unpredictable summer shower. Things did perk up, however, when Maggie's Mom gathered the teens together in front of the small stage set up in the same spot of the yard as last year, as the show was about to begin. From behind the curtain emerged Luan in her black-and-white mime attire, to the enthusiasm of her audience... a crowd of blank smiles. Luan began her piece, by prancing about merrily around the stage in a large circle, as her audience tried to interpret what she was doing.

"Why is she running around so absent-mindedly like that?" One emo teen asked.

"It's like she doesn't even know what she's doing..." Another emo teen added.

"No..." said Maggie, "Don't you see it? Nothing's holding her back. The world is her own, she's completely free... unlike me."

Luan continued to prance about in circles, but her circles were becoming increasingly smaller, and her prancing less carefree.

"Now what's she doing?" An emo teen asked.

"Maybe she's getting dizzy," another emo teen suggested. "She does look kinda sick..."

Maggie's frown grew, "No... the world is closing in on her... I totally know that feeling..."

Luan continued to move about the stage, only instead of prancing around in circles, she moved about the entire stage, her steps shaky and uneven, while a look of fear and trepidation covered her face.

"And now the whole world is, like, crumbling all around her..." Maggie continued to observe.

Wobbling and swaying to and fro, Luan retreated to the back corner of her stage, underneath something that resembled a makeshift cave of absolute darkness; she compacted herself into the small opening of this piece of scenery, defaulting back to the age-old trapped-in-a-box routine. Her audience definitely understood this one.

"Now she's all alone in the dark," said an emo teen.

"Yeah, she's trapped, she can't escape," said another emo teen.

"She's become a prisoner to the world's darkness and smallness... just like me..." said Maggie.

Indeed, Luan had become a prisoner inside her makeshift cave of darkness; she looked so sad, and so afraid, Maggie could almost feel her gut wrenching as she watched.

Behind the stage, now-twelve-year-old Lincoln -still serving as Luan's assistant- had turned on a tall tungsten studio light that Maggie's Mom allowed them to run from a power socket on the back porch. Slowly, Lincoln adjusted the anglers, creating a path of light that shone across the stage, with the narrowest band of the path of light beginning at the opening of the cave. Luan opens her eyes, sees this path of light, and slowly begins reaching her shaking hand out. Her audience was mesmerized. Luan struggles as she crawls out from her containment of darkness; as she emerges into the path of light, and she sees the path becoming wider as it reaches across the stage, she gradually grows into baby steps, then confident strides, as she stops at the front of the stage, extending her arms out, with a big smile on her face, while Lincoln adjusts the angle of the light to silhouette her. It was an awesome sight that drew some deadpan and listless 'ooh's and 'ahh's from her audience.

"Did she die?" An emo teen asked.

"Is that what this is?" Another asked.

"No," said Maggie. "She found there's still some light left in this dark world, and used it to free herself from her imprisonment, and now she's embracing the world again."

"Whoa... that's deep..." said another emo teen.

"Exactlyyyyyyy..." croaked Maggie.

The reaction from her audience was about the same as before: a series of slow, listless, yet choreographed claps of approval; Luan removed her beret, placed it over her heart, and took her bow.

"That was totally better than what she did last year," Maggie turned and said to her mom, while Luan was still being applauded. "It's like... it's like she totally gets me..."

Maggie's Mom smiled; whatever could bring Maggie a little bit of happiness always made her just as happy as well.

After the show was finished, Lincoln was helping Luan gather and pack up her equipment, "That was a really great show, Luan. You've really opened my eyes to the art of pantomime aside from just invisible walls and pulling on invisible ropes."

"Thanks, Linc!" Luan said. "I'm working on a video version to upload to Luan Out Loud, so the whole world can see! Luna's even composing an original musical score for me to set it to."

"Neat!" Lincoln said. "Speaking of Luna, she said she'd pick us up on her way back from her jam session. I'm gonna start taking everything out to the sidewalk so we can help you load up."

"I'll be right behind you, lil' bro!" Luan said.

Luan plopped down on the floor and began removing the black shoes she was wearing; coming around the corner of the back stage area, Maggie saw the mime girl who had just performed for her, and slowly began to approach her, "I totally liked your show."

Luan looked up at Maggie, "Oh, thanks! I knew you guys would love it! It's an original little performance piece I've been polishing over the past year."

"It really, really spoke to me," said Maggie. "I totally related to it."

"I'm so happy to hear that!" Luan said, as she rose to her feet. "You're the birthday girl, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Maggie," said Maggie.

"I'm Luan, nice to meet you!" Luan extended her hand to Maggie, but when Maggie took hold of it, she felt an electrical jolt shooting into her hand that outraged her into some of the most colorful language Luan ever heard; she quickly pulled her hand away, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Maggie, I forgot I was still wearing my hand buzzer!"

"Ugh! I totally hate jokes like that!" Maggie said through her gritted teeth, while shaking her buzzed hand.

"I'm really sorry, Maggie," said Luan, while removing her hand buzzer. "Sometimes I do more than one party on the same day, and I get a little mixed up. I did some clowning for some little children earlier today."

"Ugh, clowns. Hate 'em. Sad people trying repress their emotions by masking them with grease paint and making fools of themselves." Maggie said.

"Well, anyway, sorry again, and happy birthday!" Luan said, slipping her brown loafers back onto her feet, and packing up her mime outfit.

"Now mimes, I like," said Maggie. "They actually convey the complexities of human emotion through the simplicity of interpretive movement."

Luan was impressed, "Oh, yeah! It's really nice there are some people out there who appreciate such an underappreciated form of art."

"I know, right? Like, I don't get all the hate mimes get, anyway," said Maggie. "Like, what's with the stigma that mimes are all annoying and stuff?"

Luan shrugged, "Beats me, but yeah, they really do get a bad rep..."

"I really wish I could do something like that..." said Maggie.

"Why don't you?" Luan asked.

"Because I don't know how to do that stuff, it's not like I can just go to a mime school," said Maggie.

"I suppose you have a point," said Luan.

"My mom has your business card, do you give lessons?" Maggie asked.

"Lessons? Mime lessons?" Luan asked. "Well... no, I've never given lessons before... I took Advanced Mime in school as an elective last year, but they cut it because not a lot of students enrolled in it... since then, I just kinda kept teaching myself, because I like branching out into other areas of performing."

"I seeeeee," croaked Maggie.

"But, if I could learn, I'm sure you could, too," said Luan. "So... yeah, I guess I could give you lessons."

"Cool," said Maggie.

"I'm free next weekend, why don't you get in touch with me? We can get together, and I can show you the INVISIBLE ropes!" Luan flew into her typical fit of obnoxious laughter, "Hahahaha! Get it?"

Maggie just stared stone-faced at Luan, "Uh, yeah, I get it..."

Luan's laughter died down into a nervous chuckle, before she inhaled through her nose; she could clearly see corny humor was not Maggie's thing at all. "Well, uh, anyway... like I said, we can just get together, and I'll see what I can do about making a mime out of you."

"Cool," repeated Maggie.

Luan heard the horn tooting from Vanzilla out front, "Oop, that's my ride, gotta run; see you, Maggie!"

Luan grabbed the rest of her stuff, and took off for the front, while Maggie watched her run off, "Yeah, see you."

* * *

The weekend arrived, and Maggie used the G.P.S. on her phone to find 1216 Franklin Avenue. Unfamiliar with just how loud the Loud House is, she was surprised by the small house emitting such large noise coming from within. She rang the doorbell, not knowing that it did not actually work half the time - and even so, with the residents inside deeply immersed into their own activities, they probably would not have even paid attention or hear it, anyway. Likewise, Maggie knew that there wasn't anybody home, because she clearly heard the ruckus, so this time, she knocked on the door as hard as she could. At that moment, Luna just happened to be passing by the front door, having grabbed a bottle of root beer from the fridge, so she answered.

"Welcome to my nightmare!" Luna greeted the stranger, while quoting Alice Cooper.

"I take it this is the Loud House," said Maggie, deadpan serious.

"What gave it away, brah?" Luna asked, with a chuckle, as she took notice of the freckle-faced emo teen standing on the front porch. "Lemme guess, you a friend of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?"

"Who?" Maggie asked. "Um, actually, I'm looking for Luan..."

"Oh, really?" Luna asked, a little surprised. "Well, the Pungeon Master's upstairs in our room; come on, I'll show you..."

"Cool," said Maggie, stepping into the noisy house.

"WALK THIS WAAAY!" Luna motioned for Maggie to follow her. "By the way, smashin' boots, luv!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks..." responded Maggie. "I like your boots, too; purple's, like, my favorite color..."

"Righteous!" Luna exclaimed.

As the rocker brought their guest into the house, the emo teen was absolutely flabbergasted; what looked like such a small and tiny house on the outside actually seemed considerably larger on the inside - not to mention the sheer number of people inside the house, and the various activities they were engaged in. She noted a tall, attractive blonde girl who seemed to be discussing something about cardboard boxes with a middle-aged couple, as well as a white-haired, freckle-faced boy and his bespectacled, freckle-faced friend playing video games in the living room; and a pair of fraternal twins with a bunch of other small children holding a Bluebell Scout meeting in a dining room. As Luna brought the guest up the rickety staircase, she could hear a little more subdued noises coming from the various different bedrooms up on the second floor. She noted a diminutive girl with large glasses, who appeared to be conducting scientific experiments on a baby in one bedroom; a little goth girl who was deep in discussion about funerals and cemeteries with a slightly taller goth girl who looked like a miniature version of the Bride of Frankenstein in another; and a very pretty and stylish older blonde girl who was sorting through a number of bolts of colorful fabric in yet another. Worst of all, they all seemed so bright, happy, and cheerful (except for the goth girls)... Maggie cringed a little thinking that people could actually live like this. Finally, Luna brought Maggie into the room she shares with the Loud House's resident comedienne.

"Hey, dude, you expecting' company?" Luna asked.

"Oh, Maggie, hi!" Luan said.

"You sure do have a lot of people in this house," said Maggie.

"This IS the Loud House, after all," said Luna, as she plopped down onto her beanbag chair, sipping her root beer.

"Yeah, they're my family," said Luan.

"ALL of those people are your family?" Maggie asked. "All of the sudden, being an only child seems totally cool."

Luan chuckled, "Well, I love 'em, anyway! Speaking of which, this is one of my big sisters, who's also my roomie, and my bestie, and my confidant, and my rock, and my muse, and my better half, and an all-around groovy chick, Luna."

"Yo! And what's your handle again?" Luna asked.

"Maggie," said Maggie. "Luan performed at my birthday parties, and is gonna be given' me mime lessons."

"Ah, that's cool," said Luna. "Mime's not really my thang, so I'll just split..."

"No-no-no, it's okay," said Luan. "Is Lynn out back?"

"Nah, brah," said Luna. "She went over to the park with Margo today."

"Okay then," said Luan. "Come on, Maggie, we'll go out back, where we've got a little more room."

"Cool," said Maggie, as Luan took her by the hand, and took her out to the back yard.


	3. Chapter 2: A Mime is a Terrible Thing to

**A/N: Slow chapter, I know (and a little long, too, like the last chapter) - this one is also taking place over a year's worth of time, albeit in an abridged manner (again, like the last chapter), so as to not bog the story down too much; but we're definitely building up to something here...**

* * *

Maggie could feel the walls closing in on her in entrapment; she put her hands up, and attempted to push the walls away with all her might, refusing to become a prisoner in the smallness of the world. Meanwhile, sitting on the ground, with her back up against the lattice around the back porch and a stoic expression across her face was Luan, who was shaking her head.

"Nope," she said. "Sorry, Maggie. I'm not buying it."

Maggie's arms dropped to her side, and her invisible walls crumbled to dust. Feeling like a hack, she quickly got defensive towards the criticism directed at her, "What's your problem? I was totally doing a good job."

A smile immediately and naturally sprang back onto the young performer's face, as she offered up some encouragement, "You're relying too heavily on clichés and convictions... there's more to being a mime than just invisible walls... you have to find your OWN VOICE! Hahahahaha! Get it?"

Maggie just gave Luan a blank stare, "You... like to crack jokes a lot, don't you?"

"Hey, I'm a comedienne; it's an occupational hazard," said Luan, with a shrug. She rose to her feet, and walked over to Maggie, "Besides, you have to remember something... walls are flat surfaces."

"Yeeeaaahhh..." said Maggie. "Soooo... what's your point?"

"When you put your hand up against a wall, the palm of your hand is being pressed up against a flat surface, therefore, your hand should be completely flat..." said Luan, as she gave Maggie a demonstration. "See how your fingers naturally relax when they're in the air? But, you're not pushing against air, you're pushing against a structure..."

"I thought that's what I was doing..." said Maggie.

"It's really not as easy as it looks," said Luan. "Why don't we try some different exercises?"

Shortly later, Luan had Maggie's hands up against the side of the garage, having her press them into the siding.

"Okay, see how the palms of your hands are braced against the wall?" Luan asked. "That's what you want to keep in mind, don't let your fingers relax in the air, or you'll break the illusion."

Maggie pushed herself off the side of the garage, looking at how the palms of her hands were now red from sudden physical contact with a hard surface, "Ehhhh, maybe this isn't for me after alllllll..."

Luan offered up some more encouragement, "No, no, I think you have great potential! Like a lot of things, it just takes practice... besides, this is just your first lesson!"

"Like, how many lessons are there?" Maggie asked.

"How should I know? I've never given mime lessons before," said Luan, with a shrug. "I guess however many it takes until we see you're making enough progress to perform."

"You mean, like, in front of people?" Maggie asked.

"Well... yeah..." said Luan.

"I don't do stuff in front of people..." said Maggie.

"Ah, I see," said Luan. "I can help you with that, too... after all, I mentored my little sister, Lucy! She got invited to a poetry festival and became the youngest person to perform at the Royal Woods Theater! It was actually my dream to be, but she wouldn't have even made it had it not been for me helping her, and now she gets invited to a lot of poetry slams all over town!"

"You seem... really encouraging..." said Maggie.

Luan placed a hand on Maggie's shoulder, much to her dismay, "Listen, by the time I'm through with you, you'll be able to express yourself through the power of the performing arts like a true THESPIAN."

Maggie eyeballed Luan.

"HA! Bet you're glad I didn't make THAT obvious joke, aren't you?" Luan laughed, with a wink.

Maggie continued eyeballing Luan, "As a matter of fact... yeah, I totally am..."

Luan released another shrug. "I'll tell ya what: whenever you've got freetime, and if I'm not too busy, you just keep coming over, and we'll see how far we can train you. I mean, you're not gonna become a mime overnight, and taking lessons was YOUR idea, anyway... what have you got to lose?"

"Literally nothing..." said Maggie. "Just like the pointlessness of life itself."

"Here," said Luan, as she pulled her cellphone from the pocket of her blouse. "Why don't we just exchange numbers, that way we can keep in touch?"

Maggie remained silent for a moment, before conceding, "Yeah, okay."

With that, the two girls exchanged their mobile numbers, and Maggie agreed to keep seeing Luan for lessons. With it being summer, and not having any schoolwork to commit to, Luan had far more bookings for Funny Business, Inc., and as such, she was unable to see Maggie again for another lesson until a month later...

* * *

On another Saturday afternoon, Maggie dropped by the Loud House, and Luan brought her guest into the room she shares with her rocker sister, who happened to be off for a jam session with some of her bandmates. Luan invited Maggie to have a seat on her bed, but unexpectedly felt a hard lump under the covers as she sat down.

"Ow!" Maggie yelped. "What the hell was that?"

"Oops, sorry, Maggie," said Luan. "That would be Mr. Coconuts!"

"Mr. Coconuts?" Maggie asked, as Luan pulled him out from under the covers.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Luan said through Mr. Coconuts, as they laughed.

"Cool..." Maggie mumbled.

"Hey there, Freckles! What's your story?" Luan had Mr. Coconuts ask Maggie.

"I have no story," said Maggie. "Luan's giving me mime lessons."

"Mime lessons? Boy, talk about a lot of DEAD AIR! But, you know what they say: a MIME is a terrible thing to waste!" Luan and Mr. Coconuts laughed again, though Maggie cracked not even a smile. "Is this thing on? Hello, out there!"

"Hello," Maggie responded to the wooden dummy.

"Boy, you must be a lot of fun at parties!" Luan said through Mr. Coconuts.

"I don't do parties," said Maggie. "Well, except for my birthday parties, obviouslyyyy. That's how I met Luan."

"Yeah, Toots here is a regular party animal!" Luan said through Mr. Coconuts.

"I'm not a party animal," said Maggie. "The only reason I have birthday parties is because my mom likes to plan them for meeee."

"Well, moms know best!" Luan said through Mr. Coconuts.

"Except for last year, she hired this loser clown who nearly ruined my party," said Maggie.

"Yeah, that 'loser clown' would be Toots's brother, Lincoln." Luan said through Mr. Coconuts.

"But, Luan totally saved my party with her mime act, so my mom hired her again this year, and that's how we met." Maggie finished.

"Well, that was certainly an inspiring story." Luan said through Mr. Coconuts; she was blown away by Maggie regarding Mr. Coconuts like he was a living, breathing being, while she is virtually invisible. She then pulled Mr. Coconuts away, "Alright, Mr. C., that's enough out of you; I've gotta give Maggie some more mime lessons."

"Oh, I see how it is," Luan said through Mr. Coconuts. "YOU can have a new friend, but not ME, cause you're some big shot entertainer, and I'm just a dummy, right?"

"Oh, hush up!" Luan said, stuffing Mr. Coconuts under her pillow, while forcing her lips shut to imitate the sound of a muffled voice being suffocated.

"I didn't know you did ventriloquism, too," said Maggie.

"Oh, I do all kinds of things besides just comedy and mime," said Luan.

"Wow, I'd totally like to see some of your other talents sometime," said Maggie.

"You can," said Luan. "I've got my own website! Luan Out Loud: LOL! Hahahaha! Get it?"

"Yeah, I get it," said Maggie in her usual deadpan monotone. "So, you really are like a celebrity then, aren't you?"

"Well, I don't know about that," said a humble Luan. "I mean, I only have about 50,000 followers. I'm no PewDiePie or nothin'."

"Wow," said Maggie.

"So, I thought we'd work a little on balance today," said Luan. "When comes to pantomime, you need to know how to properly distribute your weight evenly through your entire body, so you don't topple over or fall down."

"Cool," said Maggie.

* * *

Over the course of the following year, Maggie continued to occasionally pop over at the Loud House for mime lessons with Luan on any given weekend, but it could get rather frustrating. Being the moody emo that she is, Maggie got discouraged very easily when she felt she was not getting the hang of pantomiming, but Luan was very persistent, and would urge Maggie to stick with it, realizing a potential for a hidden talent that could flourish if Maggie would nurture and help it grow. What Maggie really had trouble with was balance and coordination: leaning or pushing up against invisible walls was not as easy as it seemed, but Luan would continually try new exercises with her to help improve her balance - this required a lot of physical contact. Ordinarily, Maggie was not a fan of physical contact, at all... not even from her own mother; she hated people touching her in anyway, whether it was a pat on the back, rubbing her head, nudging her in the side, or even trying to hug her - she hated it. But, for some reason, there was something about Luan's touch that felt different. Whenever Luan would hold onto her shoulders, or support her as she shifted her weight into a different part of body to counterbalance herself, Maggie could sense a very nurturing quality in Luan's touch that conveyed a care and compassion she never really felt before... she actually kind of liked it.

Through it all, Maggie and Luan were clearly bonding with one another, despite their vastly contrasting personalities; early in their training, Luan, true to her form, was unable to resist trying to brighten Maggie's disposition by cracking jokes and bad puns, but they had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever - she found it juvenile and trite - so, eventually, she stopped trying, and just let Maggie be her moody self. Surprisingly, Luan did not mind Maggie's moodiness the more acquainted they became - growing up with ten other siblings, and performing for a variety of clientele, she was accustomed to many different personality types... not to mention she just enjoyed Maggie's company for what it is. Maggie, meanwhile, despite her personal disdain for juvenile humor, felt a certain gravitation toward Luan that she was unable to describe - it was as if Luan had this ability to reach into her soul and expose a vulnerable side to her that most other people (including her own emo friends, or even her mother) could never reach; indeed, she too enjoyed Luan's company for what it is.

All the while, the Loud family was happy to see the usually socially awkward fourth-eldest sister actually made a new friend, and began inviting Maggie over for meals, or other family gatherings, like game nights and such. Maggie, however, only accepted the invitations out of reluctance. With the exception of the mope fests she would have with her other emo friends, she did not like crowds or large gatherings, and with the Loud House being a family of eleven in a small house (Lori having gone off to college the year before, and Leni now in the process of moving out as well), sharing a meal or being in the presence of all of them in tight quarters only added to her social anxiety (most of them being outgoing and bombastic in their personalities did not help matters either). Admittedly, the Loud family did find it surprising that the usually upbeat, cheerful, and outgoing Luan ended up becoming friends with a moody and introverted emo like Maggie - they figured she would be the kind of person with whom Lucy would become friends... and, there actually were occasions where whenever Maggie would come over, Lucy would try to butt in, sensing Maggie could be a kindred spirit; Luan, however, would playfully shoo her little sister away while she and Maggie did 'big kid stuff.'

* * *

There finally came a time when Luan possessed enough satisfaction in the progress Maggie had made in her lessons:

"Well, Maggs," said Luan. "I think you've finally mastered the ability to properly distribute your weight evenly to balance yourself... now we're ready to go a step further!"

"And this is...?" Maggie asked.

"What you've been training for! What you want to do! Express yourself through the power of performance art!" Luan exclaimed.

"You mean like your world-crumbling bit you did at my birthday party last year?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah!" Luan said. "I want you to think of a theme... something that you feel really reflects who you are... then, I want you to set it to movement... tell a story in a way that your body language speaks more than words, and we'll see how you do."

"Okay... I'll try..." said Maggie.

"I can't wait to see it!" Luan squealed, as she looked into Maggie's eyes with a smile.

Maggie never smiled a lot, but there was something about Luan's smile that felt so contagious; like her touch, her smile conveyed a warmth and compassion that really felt encouraging. "I won't let you down."

"There's no way you possibly could," said Luan, warmly. "Art is experimental, trial-and-error... whatever you come up with, I know will come from within you."

Maggie was stunned, "Wow... that was, like, soooo deep."

* * *

Maggie spent a great deal of time trying to come up with her own performance piece; as much as she loved Luan's 'world-crumbling' piece as she called it, she knew she could not just blatantly copy it - she had to come up with something of her own. But what? She thought about how Luan's piece really spoke to her, about feeling so small in a big, dark, scary world, but Luan's piece also ended on a note of finding a sliver of light in the darkness and being able to embrace the good of world, thus conquering said darkness. She wanted to do something like that, though a little more personal, and she did, eventually, come up with her own performance piece... but she wanted Luan to be part of it.

After a little polishing up, Luan felt like Maggie was ready to actually perform her new piece in front of an audience, and decided she should start with her fellow emo friends.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Maggie asked.

"Indeedy," said Luan. "Your family and friends are your toughest critics; if you can please them, you can please anybody!"

A tad hypocritical for Luan to be advising, considering her own family finds a lot of her material annoying. Nevertheless, one Saturday afternoon, Maggie invited her posse of emo friends to her backyard to watch her new performance piece. The curtains parted, and the stage was completely dark; emerging from the shadowy darkness was Maggie, dressed in the black and white stripes of mime attire. She started off by just standing completely still and motionless, with her head down.

"Whoa, this is deep," said one emo friend.

"Yeah, it's just like how we live in a meaningless existence," another emo friend said.

Maggie slowly lifted her head, staring out into space, and proceeding to turn her head in different directions. After which, she starts moving about the stage, leaning out into the emptiness of the stage, bringing her hand above her eyes, as she scopes out the emptiness around her. At the same time, she wobbles and sways, as if she does not quite know what she is doing.

"This is exactly what it feels like to be totally lost in a world that's far too big for us to comprehend..." another emo friend remarked.

Maggie's uneasy movements render her helpless, as she slowly bends over backwards, until she is completely flat on the stage floor; she raises her hands into the air, as if to feel around for somebody out there, but is all alone.

"I totally know this feeling," another emo friend said. "All alone in a world with nobody there for you."

"Proving there is no God, and that hell is our very existence," another emo friend added.

Emerging from the shadows is Luan, also in her typical mime attire. She seems spirited and carefree at first, but then notices the lost soul lying flat on her back on the ground, and slowly approaches her. They make eye contact, but Maggie is now reluctant to reach out; as Luan offers her hand, Maggie initially refuses.

"See how you can't trust people?" Another emo friend asked.

Luan offered both of her hands, but Maggie is still resistant.

"What's the point?" Another emo friend asked.

Realizing what Maggie needs is somebody to come to her at her own level, Luan then crouches down beside her, offering her hands once again. This time, Maggie slowly, yet hesitantly accepts, grabbing her hands as Luan pulls both of them up to their feet. Once upright, Luan gestures for Maggie to follow her; Maggie points to herself in confusion, as if to say, 'Who, me?' Luan nods, and gestures again, offering up another hand, as Maggie cautiously takes it. Luan walks with Maggie up to center stage, gesturing to follow her lead, and whatever Luan does, Maggie imitates - including such standard pantomime routines like invisible walls, invisible boxes, and invisible ladders.

"What are they doing?" An emo friend asks.

"I think the other girl is, like, stepping in to be her mentor, or something..." another emo friend guesses.

Maggie stumbles through her mimicry, so Luan steadies her in her unevenness, and soon, Maggie's movements are far more confident and balanced. Luan steps back, and Maggie shows she has mastered the art of pantomime. She pauses, looking out to Luan for approval, while Luan smiles, nods, and silently claps. Now, it is Maggie who reaches out to Luan, as Luan takes long, confident strides over to her, taking her hand, and nodding in approval. Maggie smiles, and she and Luan step in sync toward the back of the stage, disappearing into the shadows of darkness.

"This is even deeper than I thought it'd be," an emo friend says.

"Yeah... I guess this shows that, sometimes, unlikely friends come from unlikely places, and can, like, coax us out of our shells, and help us realize we have some kind of hidden talent..." another emo friend says.

As Maggie and Luan stride their way back to the front of the stage, they are met with the listless, yet synchronized clapping of their audience giving them their approval. Maggie looks at Luan with a nervous smile, but Luan's smile is far more confident; Maggie's new, original performance piece went over really well.

* * *

A few days later, Maggie was alone in her bedroom, sprawled across her bed, engrossed in texting on her phone, when she suddenly got an incoming call from Luan. "Yeah?" Maggie asked, answering the call.

"I've got great news, Maggs!" Luan exclaimed.

"What is it?" Maggie asked.

"Next weekend, Potter's Playhouse is having one of their summer amateur nights," said Luan.

"Potter's Playhouse?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, it's a small, independent theater in the cool part of Fern Valley," explained Luan. "Anyway, since they're having summer amateur night, I signed you up!"

"Signed me up? Why?" Maggie asked.

"So you can try out your performance piece in front of a bigger audience," said Luan.

"I don't know, Luan... I don't think I can perform in front of strangers..." said Maggie.

"I know you can do this, Maggs; you're more than ready for it," insisted Luan. "Your performance piece has already gone over really well on a little stage in front of your friends; now you can expand it on a bigger stage, before a bigger audience. We can make this work... the bigger stage can better express your message of feeling lost and alone in a big, dark world."

"Well... I guess..." said Maggie.

"It'll be great, trust me," said Luan.

* * *

It was a Saturday evening, and a sizable crowd was attending amateur night at Potter's Playhouse in Fern Valley; the following act was an interpretive performance piece being performed by an amateur mime, and her professional mentor. Maggie and Luan performed Maggie's original piece before the audience, just as they did before her with emo friends, only this time they had a larger stage, which worked well enough to Maggie's advantage to be able to convey the feeling of being lost and alone in a big, dark world, and how an unlikely friend emerged from an unlikely place in a way she felt was far more satisfying than on the tiny makeshift set up in her backyard. Luan even called in a favor from Luna to record a musical track to sync up with the performance. Maggie was surprised by the reaction she received for her performance; the applause was almost like an addictive high. She stole a glance over at Luan, who was absolutely beaming, being so proud of her friend's success. After her performance was over, Luan and Maggie were back stage, packing up their wardrobe and other equipment.

"So, how did I do?" Maggie asked.

"You were amazing out there!" Luan squealed. "Your performance piece was so raw, so emotional, so powerful!"

"Was it really?" Maggie asked.

"Really! See, I knew with a little encouragement, you could hone a talent you didn't even know you had! I'm so proud of you!" Luan threw her arms around Maggie, giving her a congratulatory hug.

At that moment, Maggie suddenly felt something inside of her that she never felt before... a connection of some sort. She hesitantly brought her arms up and returned Luan's embrace; the feeling was strange and alien to her, but she had to admit, she rather liked it.


	4. Chapter 3: High School Girls

**A/N: Time to pick things up; as of the end of the previous chapter, we are now another year into the future. As I said, I wanted to have a slower, and more gradual progression to Luan and Maggie's budding friendship before we start swimming into deeper waters... plus, with Maggie becoming a high school freshman in this chapter, it will actually give us a more logical reason for she and Luan to actually see more of each other on a regular basis... now, doesn't that make a whole lot more sense than throwing together an already-high school freshman and a girl who is still in seventh grade at a single birthday party? NO? ****WHY NOT?!**** Never mind; just enjoy today's new chapter.**

**Now for my explanation as to why this fanfiction story has been retroactively re-classified as AU. At the time I began drafting this story, "A Pimple Plan" (which establishes that Luan and Benny ARE actually dating now, and that their relationship IS canon) had not yet aired... I had actually planned out the idea that in spite of their mutual feelings for each other, Luan was still technically single because neither she nor Benny were quite ready for a serious relationship just yet - this allows for Maggie to be able to continue to pursue her in the chapters to come. SOMETHING about the dynamic WILL change in this story eventually, but I will not divulge that classified information at this time; you will just have to wait and see.**

* * *

When she was not spending time with Luan working on miming exercises, Maggie would occasionally browse through her content she had uploaded to her Luan Out Loud website. Videos shot of some of the local clubs and other venues where she would perform stand-up sets and comedy shows were not really of much interest to her, however, she did find some of her other content rather fascinating: she had a few videos of some of her other pantomime performances, as well as other talents within her repertoire, such as juggling, ventriloquism, magic shows, dramatic readings, and even when she went through an awkward period where she and her rockstar sister attempted to join forces by having Luna provide musical backing to some comical non-sense songs she had written that would have made the likes of Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Weird Al Yankovic, or Mojo Nixon tell her to not quit her day job (in her defense, she COULD carry a tune, but her less than clever lyrics were incredibly cringeworthy and not even funny - even Luna looks embarrassed in these videos). As Maggie continued browsing through Luan Out Loud's video library, she was blown away by how truly talented and creative Luan is... and how cute she is as well. The latter thought she shook out of her head - she had no idea why that thought even crossed her mind in the first place.

* * *

Sixteen was shaping up to be a really big year for Luan. Now having her license, she had the freedom to drive herself wherever she needed to go, whether it was to school, to one of her performing gigs, or if it was her turn to chauffeur one or more of her younger siblings to their respective activities and events. It was also the year that she finally got her braces removed, of which she was thrilled. While there was nothing that could be done to correct her overbite, her orthodontist was pleased the years of wearing braces had helped straighten her teeth; after finally having her braces removed, she felt like she could smile forever. She also gradually made another change to her appearance as well: she was not pulling her hair back into a ponytail as often as she did; after letting her hair down a few times, she came to realize how much better her head felt without the weight on a large, heavy ponytail weighing down the back of her scalp.

Not only was this the year that Luan was going to be a junior at Royal Woods High, but it was also the year that Maggie would become a freshman. One summer evening, Luan was making some long-overdue and much-needed updates to Luan Out Loud, which she had been neglecting to do for a while, given her other activities pushing it further down on her priority list. As she sat at her computer desk typing away, she had an incoming video chat request, and seeing it was from Maggie, she immediately accepted it.

"Hey, Maggs!" Luan said, when Maggie's face appeared on her monitor.

Maggie also had a slightly different hairstyle, in that her bangs were actually trimmed a little bit, allowing for more of her eyes to be seen. "Hey, Luan," she said, also in a slightly deepened voice, but still maintaining that dry and deadpan valley girl accent.

"Notice anything different?" Luan asked, flashing a great big smile.

Maggie did, indeed, notice the difference, "Yeah, you got your braces off."

"I did!" Luan squealed. "I still have this embarrassing overbite, but it is such a relief not being a metal mouth anymore!"

"Cool," said Maggie.

"So, what's up?" Luan asked.

"You know, I'll be a freshman at Royal Woods High this semester..." said Maggie.

"Hey, that's right!" Luan exclaimed excitedly. "Now we'll get to see each other every day!"

Maggie smiled, "Yeah... we will... anyway, before I enroll, I was just wondering if you'd help me with something."

"Sure, Maggs," said Luan. "What are friends for?"

Maggie's smile grew, "Well, I just wanted to know if there were, like, any good electives I could take."

"Oh yeah, I know just the elective for you," said Luan. "We have a great drama class I just know you'd love to take! Mrs. Bernardo loves finding new students who can really tap into and project emotion!"

"Sounds good to me," said Maggie. "I'll look into it, then."

"I hope you will," said Luan. "My friend Benny and I have done a few plays in the last couple of years, they're a lot of fun. I think you'd really enjoy it."

"You've talked me into it," said Maggie.

"I can't wait till you start attending Royal Woods High," said Luan. "Just think... you'll be the baby all over again!"

Luan, as always, flew into a fit of obnoxious laughter; meanwhile, Maggie actually started laughing as well... more or less in a flat and emotionless manner that was very similar to Lucy.

"Well, I guess I'll see you soon," said Luan.

"Yeah, see ya," said Maggie, as the two of them ended their video chat.

* * *

The greenery of Royal Woods began to give way to a tie-dye of a variety of different shades of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, an indication that summer was transitioning into autumn. Kids began going back to school for the new semester, with Maggie attending Royal Woods High for the first time, as fourteen-year-old freshman who would soon be turning fifteen partway through the school year. While the high school environment was not necessarily too different from middle school, she did feel more and more like an outcast, being one of the few emo kids aside from a few of her friends (and some older students already attending) in a school where most of the other students were so bright, shiny, and happy. Not that it really mattered to her - Maggie was totally accustomed to feeling like an outcast. On the other hand, she also possessed a lure that garnered quite a bit of unwanted attention as well: with her dark and brooding appearance, as well as her well-endowed assets that only continued to grow as she got older, she often found herself being approached by puberty-stricken boys who would make rather poor and pathetic attempts to woo her, although she never wanted anything to do with any of them. Despite being of an age herself, she really had no interest in boys - let alone striking up a romance with anybody, for that matter - given that they always end in nasty break-ups or divorces, she figured there was no point in romantic relationships anyway.

Being two grades behind, Maggie did not share any actual classes with Luan, though their lunch periods were at the same time in the middle of the day. After going through a lunch line that seemed to last forever and moved with the speed of a snail race in the English countryside, Maggie stepped into the large cafeteria, looking around for a place to sit; a few of her fellow emo friends spotted her and motioned for her from one table, but on the other side of the cafeteria, she spotted Luan sitting at another table. Once spotting her friend leaving the line, Luan happily waved Maggie down, offering her a seat next to her. Maggie smiled, as she went over to sit with Luan, much to the dismay of her emo friends.

"Hey there, high school girl!" Luan greeted Maggie as she sat down.

"Hey, Luan," said Maggie, immediately noticing the difference in her quaff. "I had no idea your hair was that long."

Luan laughed; this was the first time Maggie apparently has seen her with her hair down, "Yeah, I was getting tired of that heavy pony tail."

"I... I like it... it's, like, totally a super-cute look on you," said Maggie, feeling strangely awkward about what she just said.

"Aww, thanks!" Luan said, feeling flattered. "Well, how are you liking Royal Woods High so far?"

"Meh..." was Maggie's simple response.

Luan laughed again, "Hey, it's only your first day. You'll get used to it."

Feeling confused about what they had just witnessed, Maggie's emo friends trekked across the bustling cafeteria, and approached the table where one of their own was sitting with somebody else instead:

"Hey, Maggs. What gives?" Asked one emo friend.

"Yeah, we were saving a seat for you," another emo friend said.

"That's cool, and all," said Maggie. "But I hang with you guys, like, all the time... I haven't gotten to hang with my friend Luan in weeks, and I wanted to catch up with her."

"Well, you guys can still sit with us, if you'd like," offered Luan. "The more the merrier, am I right?"

Luan giggled, but Maggie's emo friends did not, and simply walked away, wanting nothing to do with the clown she had befriended.

"Boy, they're a lively bunch, aren't they?" Luan quipped.

"Eh, don't worry about 'em," said Maggie. "They'll get over it... it's not like they own me or anything."

Maggie's emo friends were beginning to feel slighted. Over the course of the following week, she continued to choose to eat lunch with Luan instead of them, and it made no sense whatsoever: Maggie hates jokes, hates juvenile humor, and she certainly hates clowns... how in the world did she end up befriending such a clown like that Loud girl anyway?

* * *

By the end of the week, the drama club met up for its first class of the new semester after school had concluded that Friday afternoon. Maggie stepped into the auditorium, making her way up onto the empty stage, where she spotted Luan among a few other students who had enrolled into the class. Seeing Maggie take her advice, Luan was excited that her friend showed up.

"I knew you'd wanna take drama as an elective," said Luan, as Maggie approached her. "You're gonna love it!"

At that moment, a pair of hands covered Luan's eyes from behind, and a familiar, yet deepened voice playfully asked, "Guess who?"

Luan grinned as she turned around, "Benny Boy!"

"Hey, Toots!" The two hugged each other tightly, much to Maggie's surprise.

In the last couple of years, Benny also went through some noticeable changes as well: in addition to his slightly deepened voice, he had hit quite a growth spurt, and was now noticeably taller than Luan; likewise, he had also been letting his Jewfro grow bigger and curlier, making him look almost like a young, clean-shaven Bob Ross. Despite also being a junior, he also did not share any actual classes with Luan, and his mid-day lunch period was not at the same time as hers, making drama class the only time the two of them got to still see each other during the week. On top of that, between Luan still having routine bookings for Funny Business, Inc., and Benny attending acting workshops throughout the summer, it had been quite a while since the two had last seen each other; it felt so good to finally be reunited again.

"I haven't seen you in forever," said Benny, letting go of Luan, though still holding hands with her.

"I know, right? But you know what they say," said Luan. "'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.'"

The two shared a chuckle, while Maggie stood with a blank expression all over her face.

"Oh! Maggie, this is my best friend, Benny! And Benny, this is my NEW best friend, Maggie!" Luan introduced her two friends to each other.

"Nice to meet you, Maggie," said Benny, offering up his hand.

"Yyyyyeah... saaame..." croaked Maggie, reluctantly shaking his hand.

"Benny is, seriously, the best actor in drama class," bragged a boastful Luan, while a modest Benny blushed. "That's why Mrs. Bernardo always casts him as the lead in all our plays."

"Well, don't forget, you make for a marvelous leading lady yourself," Benny told Luan, causing her to blush as well; he turned to Maggie to share an old anecdote with her, "Matter of fact, Mrs. Bernardo said we were the best Romeo and Juliet she had ever directed."

"Romeo and Juliet, huh? Soooo... did... you two... ya know... kiss?" Maggie asked out of a sense of morbid curiosity.

As they blushed even redder, Benny and Luan were overcome with nervous giggles, before the comedienne explained, "Yeah, and I was so, so, so nervous about it! I never kissed a boy before..."

"Truth be told, I was a little uneasy about it myself, having never kissed a girl before either. But, I just kept reminding myself it was all part of being an actor, and that it really wasn't a big deal." Benny added, while he and Luan briefly giggled over reminiscing about their first kiss. After collecting himself, Benny inquired more of Maggie to get better acquainted with her, "So, how did you two meet?"

"Luan did some pantomiming at my last two birthday parties, and has been giving me lessons for the past year," explained Maggie.

"Yes, and Maggie has been a very fine, though challenging pupil!" Luan said, as she patted Maggie's back.

"Ahh. We used to have an Advanced Mime class, and Luan ALWAYS made straight A's!" Benny bragged, causing Luan to blush once again. "She's the best at pantomiming!"

"She's the best at EVERYTHING!" Maggie countered, feeling the need to top Benny's words of praise.

The red-cheeked Luan buried her face into the palms of her hands, "You guys flatter me too much!"

Just then, a boastful voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire auditorium, eliciting startled reactions from newcomers, and exasperated eyerolls from older pupils: _"AND NOW, THESPIANS, PRESENTING THAT DELIGHTFUL STAR OF SMALL STAGE, LOCAL SCREEN, AND DINNER THEATER, THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE INCOMPARABLE, MRS. BERNARDOOOO!"_

A big spotlight shone down on center stage, as their drama teacher lowered herself down on a pulley, striking a 'ta-dah' pose when her feet met the floor.

"Did she just seriously announce herself?" Maggie asked in disbelief, while Luan snickered.

"She does that at the beginning of every class," explained Benny. "Every. Single. Time."

"My little sister, Lola, always does the same thing at the beginning of all her classes, too," said Luan.

"It is SOOOO wonderful to see so many old, familiar faces, and some fresh, new faces in drama class this semester!" Mrs. Bernardo exclaimed, in her flowery and flaring flamboyant flourish. "Now, before we get into this semester's production, we're going to be spending the next few weeks working on some exercises... exercises that will help each of you reach into the deepest depths of your souls, and expose them to the rest of the wooorrrrlllld!"

"Oh, boy..." Maggie mumbled at how dramatic Mrs. Bernardo was.

"Now, I don't like to show favoritism amongst my pupils," said Mrs. Bernardo, "But I would like to point out if there are anybody you should follow as an example, it would be two of our FIIIIINEST thespians: BENNY AND LUAAANNNN!"

Benny and Luan lightly blushed as Mrs. Bernardo pointed them out to the rest of the class.

"In fact, Benny, why don't you give the rest of the class a demonstration on how to prrrrroperly prrrrrroject a clear, rrrrresonate voice into a packed hoouuuse?" Mrs. Bernardo asked.

As Benny took to center stage to comply with Mrs. Bernardo's request, Maggie began conversing with Luan, whispering to her, "So... you and Benny... you guys seem... pretty close..."

"Yep! We go back a ways!" Luan whispered back.

"Do you... ya know... like him?" Maggie asked, sensing her friend felt something for him.

Luan blushed again, "Wellll... it's... not like we're going out, or anything..." She was being rather coy, and most certainly underplaying her answer. In actuality, even though she and Benny still had mutual feelings for each other, their nervousness about having to kiss each other in_ Romeo & Juliet _had made both of them realize that neither one of them were mentally or emotionally mature enough for their first serious relationship just yet - they were still young and still had a lot of growing up to do. Still, they were quite fond of each other, and they would continue to bond with one another, whether it was acting together in Mrs. Bernardo's plays, or spending a random weekend with each other theater hopping, or just hanging out in the park. With their shared passion for the performing arts, having so much in common with each other, and just enjoying being in each other's company, the two of them became the best of friends over the past two years (something Lori had once told Luan was actually a good thing, because true love begins as friendship).

Maggie had no idea why, but she was sensing that she was, somehow, jealous of Luan being friends with Benny. She was not certain that either of them actually had feelings for each other, but she also was not certain why that even mattered to her, or why she should even feel any jealousy or envy over their friendship anyway.

* * *

Several moments later, Mrs. Bernardo was sitting out in the auditorium, giving one of her new students the stage to practice some vocal exercises, "Okay, let's hear what you've got!"

Maggie felt awkward as she took to center stage. After the past year training in pantomime with Luan, she was more accustomed to silent performing, never having to recite lines, so as she delivered, she did so in her usual, deadpan, monotone, valley girl voice:

"How now brown cow."

"Can't hear you, Maggie!" Mrs. Bernardo called out from her seat. "Remember, you're REACHING A CROOOWWWD!"

Maggie repeated her line a little louder, but still in her deadpan manner, "How now brown cow."

"Still can't hear you!" Mrs. Bernardo called out. "A little louder!"

Maggie repeated her line again, only this time she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs, "**HOW NOW BROWN COW!**"

Mrs. Bernardo was stunned, "Oh...kay... um, that was... better, Maggie... But, don't SCREAM, you'll hurt your vocal chords. Just prrrrroject your voice out into the audience."

Maggie repeated her line again, speaking louder, but without screaming, "How now brown cow."

"We're getting there," said Mrs. Bernardo. "Try putting some FEEEEEEELING into it. Remember: you're an actoOorrrr, not an animatronic."

"Yeah, I am, like, so done with this..." said Maggie, as she turned and left the stage, though Luan chased after her.

"Okay, well, I guess that wraps up Maggie's exercise for this week," said Mrs. Bernardo. "Who's next?"

* * *

After drama class finished for the day, Luan approached Mrs. Bernardo as she was still gathering her things to leave for home.

"Mrs. B., may I speak with you, please?" she asked.

"May you speak with me, of COURSE, Luan, YOU may ALWAYS speak with meeee," said Mrs. Bernardo. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about Maggie," began Luan. "I know she didn't really leave much of an impression on you today..."

"Not everyone is skilled in the art of acting, dear girl..." Mrs. Bernardo interrupted. "It is a gift that is bestowed upon so very few in this world... and clearly, that gift was NOT bestowed upon her..."

"I beg to differ," countered Luan in Maggie's defense. "I mean, okay, maybe she can't really project very well, and her deliveries are a little... dry... but, I'm telling you, Mrs. B., I've been training her in pantomime for the past year, and what she lacks in delivering lines, she more than makes up for in physical acting. Just this past summer, I managed to get her to perform a pantomime for amateur night at Potter's Playhouse, and her performance was so captivating and powerful, it brought the house down!"

"FLASH OF LIGHTNING, dear girl, you have just given me a GREAT IDEEEAAAA!" Mrs. Bernardo exclaimed. "This semester's production WAS going to be _Twelfth Night_, and I planned on casting you and Benny as Viola and Duke Orsino... but hearing your story has INSPIRED me to do _The Miracle Worker_ instead... yessss... from what you've told me, I can just visualize you and Maggie as Anne Sullivan and young Helen Keller! Luan? Make sure Maggie continues coming to this class after school every Friday... I CAN JUST FEEEELLLLL THE MAGIC ABOUT TO UNFOOOLLLLD!"

"You've got it, Mrs. B.!" Luan squealed with a smile, as she raced out of the building.

Mrs. Bernardo, however, called out to her one last time, "Oh, Luan... could you hook me up with Potter's Playhouse?"


	5. Chapter 4: Could it be I'm Falling in Lo

**A/N: You've read **_**The Missing Loud**_**, right? If you haven't, and you're wondering who this Juney girl is mentioned in this chapter, she was a minor, yet significant OC in the aforementioned fanfiction story, although just making a very brief cameo in this chapter.**

**Also, I'm bringing back two of Maggie's friends from the episode "Funny Business" in this chapter; as far as I know, they have no names, so I just made up a couple of emo-sounding names for the sake of being able to identify them while reading.**

* * *

Throughout the rest of the fall semester, every Friday was spent in drama class rehearsing their next upcoming play, an abridged version of the biographical classic, _The Miracle Worker_, with Luan cast as the visually-challenged teacher, Anne Sullivan, tasked with being the personal mentor and tutor to young Helen Keller, a deaf-blind, almost feral child, who would grow up to be an incredibly influential author and activist in the literary world. Mrs. Bernardo was, indeed, blown away by Maggie's performance as young Helen: she really unleashed a beast from within herself, frustrated at a world she can neither see nor hear, definitely convinced by Luan's notion that some thespians are better at just body acting, without having to deliver any lines. Luan and Maggie also spent part of this period of time teaching themselves sign language for the play.

One brisk and crisp Friday evening in late autumn, Royal Woods High put on its production of _The Miracle Worker_. It was the story's climax, and Luan and Maggie were center stage portraying Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller. Luan/Anne was pumping water, while using sign language to spell the word 'water' out for Maggie/Helen, who felt the water with her hands, and recognized what it was, signing the word 'water,' much to the astonishment of her mentor. Realizing things she feels with her hands have names, Maggie/Helen blindly stumbles around the stage, feeling various things in her path: the ground, a tree, a step, a bell, while Luan/Anne teaches her how to sign the names for each of these things, which Maggie/Helen is then able to sign as well, demonstrating that she is, at last, learning. Finally, the mentor calls out for the girl's parents, "MR. KELLER! MRS. KELLER!"

Exiting the door in the fake facade of a fancy house, Benny and Juney emerge playing Helen's parents - Captain Arthur Keller, and Kate Keller - who had previously called on Anne to help their spoiled and undisciplined daughter out of desperation; Maggie/Helen feels the faces of her parents, as she learns how to sign 'father' and 'mother' from Luan/Anne, "SHE KNOWS! SHE KNOWS!"

The Keller family embrace each other to the cheers and applause of the faculty, parents, and other family members seeing the play. The cast of drama students lined up along the stage, and took their bows, while Mrs. Bernardo was blubbering like a baby from back stage.

After the play concluded, and the drama students were back stage changing out of their wardrobe, Mrs. Bernardo was showering her thespians with praise and accolades for their amazing work, "... and Maggie, YOU ABSOLUTELY BLEEEWWWW MY MIIIIIIIIND! You spoke more VOLUME with your physicalities than you ever could with wooorrrrds!"

"Well... I learned from the best..." said Maggie with a smile, as she wrapped her arm around Luan's shoulders, while the buck-toothed mentor beamed at her protégé.

"Luuaaannnn, one of these days, I am going to have to make you my personal associate!" Mrs. Bernardo said, as she moved on to other students to praise their work as well.

"You really were wonderful, Maggie," said Luan, while she too wrapped an arm around the emo teen's shoulders, causing her to blush. "I hope you'll stay in drama class next semester."

"After what we just did, I am totally sticking with drama," said Maggie, as her voice swelled with emotions she was unaccustomed to feeling.

The two girls pulled each other into a hug; Maggie had no idea why, given her usual disdain for physical contact, but she always enjoyed sharing a hug with Luan. After pulling away from each other, Benny and Juney walked over to offer up their own praise for their superb work in the play as well:

"You two really were sensational tonight!" Benny exclaimed. "I don't know what it is, but you two have a certain chemistry - you play off of each other really well!"

"Thanks, Benny Boy!" Luan said graciously, while Maggie wore something of a smug smirk on her face upon hearing the immortal Benny mention she and Luan sharing a certain chemistry with one another.

"You're such a great actress, Maggie," said Juney, snapping the emo back to reality. "Even if you didn't have any lines, the way you tapped into your emotions was absolutely incredible!"

"Yeah, you actually had me convinced you were a beast in some of those scenes!" Benny added.

"Um... yeah... thanks..." mumbled a modest Maggie.

She really did have so much fun acting in a play with Luan in which she did not have to deliver even a single line, and yet was one of the main subjects of the play's focus... she especially enjoyed all of the physical acting they had to do together, such as scuffles and altercations they had to engage in at various different points in the play, due to Helen's penchant for throwing temper tantrums, and attempting to take her frustrations out on Anne simply for trying to help her, while Anne remains persistent and firm with the wild child. Meanwhile, the overall performance was quite a breeze for Luan - it felt very much like some of the earlier pantomiming lessons she gave Maggie... only with wrestling matches.

Having been in drama class over the course of the previous few months, Maggie was feeling even more bonded with Luan than ever before, but there was something she still could not quite figure out... why was she so fascinated with Luan, anyway? She was so fascinated with Luan, in fact, that she realized that she felt there were only two highlights to look forward to during the school week: having lunch with her everyday, and spending time with her in drama class every Friday; aside from that, she actually misses Luan when they are not together. Maggie also came to realize that she was beginning to develop a physical attraction to Luan as well: the young comedienne eventually cut her waist-length hair into a much shorter bobbed style that she found more manageable, and the late-blooming sixteen-year-old had finally started to blossom into womanhood, developing a small, yet perky little bust. Maggie certainly took notice of all these things... Luan was not at all fake and plastic like so many other high school girls tend to be while trying to look like the models in the magazines they read; Luan was real, natural, and genuine... and yet, she was also seemingly outwardly modest, thinking of herself as nothing special; that just made her all the more attractive - an attraction that Maggie felt growing stronger and stronger each and every day.

At the same time, Benny was also sensing Maggie was rather hostile toward him, especially whenever he would be chatting with Luan inbetween their acting exercises or play rehearsals. More often than not, the emo would interrupt their idle conversations, whether it was simply butting in so she could talk with Luan herself, or passive-aggressively splitting them apart by pushing a fake wall or other piece of scenery inbetween them, while making up excuses that Mrs. Bernardo wanted the scenery placed in those specific spots. Benny even brought this to Luan's attention one day when Maggie happened to be absent from drama class for unknown reasons:

"You know something, Luan?" Benny asked. "If I didn't know better, I think Maggie really doesn't like me..."

"Really? What makes you say that?" Luan asked.

"I don't know..." Benny continued. "I just... sense a lot of hostility from her aimed at me... haven't you noticed?"

"No... not really..." admitted Luan. "But, I've known her a little longer than you, maybe I'm just used to her moodiness. Believe it or not, it took her a while to warm up to me as well, maybe just give her a little more time... she's actually really nice when you get to know her."

"I suppose so..." said Benny, with a shrug.

Maggie also began to experience some rather bizarre episodes when she went to sleep at night... she found that she was having two recurring dreams that were very, very similar, yet left her feeling completely different when she awoke. One of these recurring dreams involved her and Luan; most of the time, they never really did much of anything in the dreams - they just simply hung out with each other - but the feeling of these dreams was so serene and uplifting, that she would awake the next morning feeling unusually happy. The other recurring dreams were basically the same, but with one difference: instead of hanging out with her, Luan was hanging out with Benny - these dreams, for whatever reason, felt so surreal and borderline nightmarish, that she would awake the next morning feeling emotionally drained. What was going on? What was up with these recurring dreams all of the sudden?

Finally, one day before school let out for winter break, Maggie had something of an epiphany. She sat in her Psychology/Sociology class, while the day's lesson covered the subject of dreams. The emo teen was not much of a good student at all - she would often ignore and neglect her school work altogether, feeling it was pointless to learn anything that was clearly never going to apply to her adult life anyway, which resulted in a lot of C's, D's, and F's on her report cards. Her eyes merely skimmed with disinterest across the words in her text book, until one particular paragraph actually caught her attention: it went into detail about two of the most common recurring themes that make up the majority of our dreams are our biggest wishes, and our biggest fears. The teacher's lecturing at the head of the class became an indistinct garble of noise in her ears as her eyes zeroed in on this paragraph. She got to thinking about the recurring dreams she had been having as of late: the pleasant dreams involving Luan hanging out with her, and the 'nightmarish' dreams involving Luan hanging out with Benny. She also got to thinking about how Luan stirs up so many positive feelings inside of her that nobody else ever has before, as well as the feelings of jealousy and resentment that Benny seems to stir up. She also got to thinking about how much she enjoys spending time with Luan, and how much she misses her when she is not around. She also got to thinking about how she was sensing such a deep connection between the two of them over the previous year of studying mime, acting, and other performing exercises. She also got to thinking about how she had curiously developed an attraction to Luan, and kept finding her more and more attractive each and every day. She also came to realize that as she was analyzing all of these things in her head, she had an indescribable feeling inside her heart that she had never felt before... finally, it all clicked in her mind. With a sudden shock to her system, she asked to be excused to the bathroom; moments later as she was sitting in one of the stalls with her arms wrapped around her knees, and her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, it finally all made sense to her:

"Holy shit..." she mumbled to herself. "I'm in love! I'm in love with Luan! I am totally, hopelessly, passionately, head-over-heels in love with Luan Loud!"

That explained why she feels so drawn to Luan. That explained why Luan possessed this ability to stir up feelings inside her that nobody else ever has. That explained why she was so jealous of Luan's friendship with Benny. That explained everything. That explained it all. Her dreams of just her and Luan explained what her biggest wish was: to be with Luan. Her dreams of Luan and Benny explained what her biggest fear was: losing Luan to Benny.

Now, things were more awkward and confusing than ever before. They were awkward for Maggie, because now she was unable to even behave like a normal person (well, normal for her) around Luan whenever she saw her at lunch, or during drama class, because she had no idea how to behave around somebody you are in love with. They were confusing for Luan and Benny, because they had no idea what had gotten into Maggie - upon realizing how she really feels, the love-struck emo had become so tongue-tied around Luan, they really knew not what to make of it. As lunch time became increasingly awkward, Maggie took to eating with her usual crowd of emo friends again - she made up an excuse to Luan that they kept badgering her into eating with them again, and that she caved into their demands, but in actuality, it was because she was just far too nervous to sit and eat with her now. Even so, despite sitting with her emo friends again, Maggie could rarely take her eyes off of Luan during lunch - something that was not going un-noticed.

"Hey, what do you keep staring at that Loud girl for?" One emo friend asked one day.

"I don't, leave me alone." Maggie responded in her usual deadpan manner, while keeping her eyes affixed on the cuteness that was emitting from the young comedienne sitting on the opposite side of the cafeteria, and laughing with some of her friends from drama class.

* * *

The holiday season was underway, though Maggie always found the holidays depressing: much like Charlie Brown, she found holidays to be nothing more than an excuse to sell and move merchandise in a big commercial racket - not to mention, she also did not understand why the holidays were the only time of the year in which peace and goodwill are encouraged among people. Why only the holidays? Why not every day of the year? School let out for winter break, and during this time, Maggie found herself developing almost like a shrine to Luan: on both her laptop and mobile phone, she used Luan's old profile pictures as the wallpapers, and spent much of her freetime not only binge-watching Luan Out Loud videos, but also browsing through Luan's photos on all of her social media accounts; she could not stop looking at her. She would look at some old Throwback Thursday photos Luan would share of when she was a little girl, aspiring to be a performer: with her pig tails, missing teeth, and using household items like hairbrushes as props for her little comedy routines; Maggie thought 'Baby Luan' looked so adorable. She would look at some photos that were shared during the past couple of years, seeing Luan once again as the ponytail-wearing, brace-faced funny girl who would dress up in clown suits, or mime garb; Maggie remembered when Luan used to look like this, but she still thought she was so pretty. She would also look at Luan's most recent photos, seeing the subtle transformation she had gone through in having her braces removed, letting her hair down and eventually cutting it shorter, and her blossoming body; Maggie thought Luan looked beautiful. And among them all, the one thing that Maggie loved the most was Luan's smile; with or without braces, that big, bright and warm, yet dorky and buck-toothed smile of hers was so contagious that it set the emo teen's otherwise cold heart aflutter.

* * *

Her newfound infatuation, bordering on obsession with Luan was causing Maggie to also kind of drift away from her old emo friends; they were unable to fathom why she was suddenly spending so much time with such a clown girl, and less time with them. However, one chilly afternoon, she got together with a couple of her friends: Damien, a tall, thin boy with shaggy black hair that covered his eyes, facial piercings, and a dark purple hoody with spikes on the shoulders; and Stormy, a short, overweight girl, with short, plum-colored hair, heavy make-up, fake vampire teeth, and a charcoal-colored hoody. Ordinarily on days like this, they would usually sit underneath a shade tree, and just spend the entire day doodling and sketching in their sketch books, writing short stories or poetry in their notebooks, or even smoking things they should not be smoking at their age - but on a winter day like this, with some traces of snow on the ground, they sat at a round picnic table with their sketch books. Both Damien and Stormy's artwork were almost always gory and graphic; Damien had sketched a human head that had been decomposed down to nothing but a brain and stalk, while Stormy had sketched a nude woman with blood pouring out from all of her major crevices.

"Dammit, I'm all out of red again," said Stormy; her red colored pencil reduced to nothing but a stub.

"My black's practically dust," added Damien

Stormy turned to Maggie, "Hey, Maggs. Let us have your colored pencils."

Maggie was lost in her own world of sketching to hear her friends' request to borrow her colored pencils. Seeing as how she was paying no attention to them, Stormy grabbed Maggie's sketch book, so they could look at what she was so immersed in, "What are you drawing anyway?"

"Hey!" Maggie said. "Give that back!"

"Look..." Stormy pointed out.

She and Damien observed Maggie's latest sketch, which was a relatively realistic-looking portrait of Luan.

"Hey, isn't she that Loud girl you been hanging out with?" Damien asked.

Maggie snatched her sketch book back, "Yeah, she's that Loud girl I've been hanging out with. You guys got a problem with that?"

Damien and Stormy nodded in sync, "Yeah."

"That girl is so un-us, Maggs," said Stormy.

"She's so cheerful, so outgoing, so carefree, so jokey..." said Damien.

"It's terrible," said Stormy

"It's disgusting," said Damien.

"It's senseless," said Stormy.

"It's futile," said Damien.

"Why do you hang out with her, anyway?" Stormy asked. "You got a thing for her or something?"

"Maybe I do, so what?" Maggie asked.

Damien and Stormy looked horrified.

"You really like that Loud girl?" Stormy asked.

"Yeah, I really like that Loud girl!" Maggie snapped. "I... I LOVE her! I've never met anyone like her! She's so different, so unique... she's talented, she's creative, it's like she can do everything. She's also, like, the most caring, compassionate, understanding person I've ever met in my entire life... I've never felt so connected with anyone before. She stirs up so many feelings inside me I've never felt before... she makes me feel so... so... COMPLETE."

Damien and Stormy shared another look of shock upon hearing Maggie place Luan on such a high pedestal.

"She is, like, literally consuming me!" Maggie continued. "She's all I can think about! My every waking hour, my every thought is of her! She's my first thought when I wake up in the morning! She's my last thought when I go to sleep at night! When I don't see her during the day, I see her in my dreams at night!"

Damien and Stormy just sat there with dumbfounded looks on their faces as they continued to watch Maggie's emotional episode:

"And the more I think about her," continued Maggie, "the more I start to wonder... like... what it would be like if... if we were... closer... I think about what it'd be like if we were more than just friends... like if... if we were... lovers... I think about what it'd be like to do things with her that lovers do... like go out on dates... hold hands... make love... I never imagined wanting to actually spend my life with somebody like that before... I actually wanna BE WITH her..."

Damien and Stormy sat alongside Maggie, both of their jaws hanging wide open.

"Maggs?" Stormy began. "You. Need. Help."

"No shit," added Damien. "I dunno what you've been smokin' lately, but you're seriously losing your mind. Get back into creepypastas, go back to writing adult fanfiction, that'll get you back into your right frame of mind."

"Yeah, nothing good will come out of all of this connection shit," said Stormy. "You give into your feelings and let them take over, you're just setting yourself up for soul-crushing disappointment. So just forget about that Loud girl; she's a loser anyway."

Maggie may not have been paying much attention to the two's less than helpful words of perceived wisdom, but she clearly heard that unflattering remark about Luan, and with a cat-like reflex, punched Stormy in the shoulder.

"Ow! Damn, bitch!" Stormy yelped, rubbing her sore shoulder.

"Luan is NOT a loser!" Maggie snapped, as she defended her beloved's honor. "Don't you EVER talk about her like that again, or I'll cut you like the bitch you are!"

Rising to her feet, and clutching onto her sketch book and colored pencils, Maggie stormed away from her friends, while they remained sitting at the picnic table, with Stormy still rubbing her sore shoulder.

"Love is a mental disease..." said Stormy.

"Tell me about it," said Damien.

As Maggie stormed through the park, she began musing to herself: "I can't take this... I seriously can't take this anymore... I've got to talk to Luan... I've got to tell her how I feel... I can't keep this to myself any longer... if I don't make a move soon, Benny may get to her first... I just... I just need the right time, the right place, the right thing that will give me the right opportunity to tell her... but what?"


	6. Intermission

**A/N: This chapter isn't really a chapter; it's actually something of an intermission... I figured since I was writing about certain members of the Loud family two years into the future, I might as well also touch on what I think the rest of the family would be like after that same passage of time also - just to see. Matter of fact, if you were to visit my updated profile, you can see my visual interpretations of the characters two years into the future.**

**And again; yes, I'm aware of that the upcoming season is going to be aging up all of the characters one year, but these are just my own personal ideas for the sake of this story - even though I'm not claiming these are my personal headcanons or anything, and I doubt much of this will actually happen on the show itself (except for Lori, perhaps, but the source material provides quite a bit of inspiration)... this is already retroactively AU, anyway.**

* * *

Although two years may not seem like a particularly long passage of time, it was long enough for quite a few changes to take place within the Loud House, particularly among the children. With Lori and Leni grown up, out of the house, and both of them off to college, some of the younger Loud siblings experienced bedroom upgrades; with the exceptions of Lisa, Lily, and the twins, who remained in their original bedrooms.

* * *

Now at age six, Lisa is a little taller, and has since been upgraded to Lynn Jr.'s old bed. Her hair is a little straighter and less unkempt, and she more often than not wears her white lab coat and green latex gloves; traces of the lateral lisp she once possessed when speaking have all but disappeared. She is also becoming more and more frustrated with being an insufferable genius trapped in a child's body - while she continues to conduct her own experiments and inventions at home (and still occasionally tries to subject her family to them), she feels the limitations of her home and schooling environment (despite being bumped up to fifth grade), and wants to broaden and expand her horizons; "Grow Or Go," has become her personal philosophy on life. While she still continues to give lectures at various universities, she is far more interested in actually tackling the scientific community as a career, and has even looked into areas where she could apply herself more fulfillingly, such trying to utilize her connections with NASA to work in the space program, or even look into STEM job opportunities... unfortunately, Child Labor Laws are not on her side. Despite her massive intellect, and advancing her way through grade school faster than most other children, she has been turned away from countless job interviews because she was still of an age where most of her peers would be in first and second grades. As such, she is presently getting more involved in activism, and has even formed a movement she calls Freedom For Gifted Children - a movement aimed to getting exceptions made to Child Labor Laws for brilliant children, like herself, who wish to realize their full potential if they choose to. Otherwise, she continues to maintain an emotional detachment from the people around her in her life; she has not really grown any closer to or bonded with anyone else in her family, and in fact, is actually content with the fact that her older siblings are, gradually, one by one, moving out of the house, resulting in less people she has to interact and communicate with at home.

Now at age three, Lily is still the baby of the family, but growing up fast - it will only be another year until her parents upgrade her from her crib into a "big girl bed" (Lisa's old bed), and as she continues to be toilet-trained, it will also only be a matter of time until they upgrade her from diapers and pull-ups to "big girl underwear." As her hair grows curlier and blonder, and more teeth break through her gums, she is beginning to look a lot like Lola and/or Lana's Mini-Me; she also is walking far better these days, and is able to speak in complete sentences... sort of. She has already been experiencing something of a speech impediment whenever she tries to talk, which is why, in her spare time, Lisa takes it upon herself to be Lily's speech therapist, hoping to improve her speech before she enrolls in grade school. Despite still often being subjected to any number of Lisa's scientific experiments like a little guinea pig, she still maintains a particular fondness for her brainiac sister and roommate, whom she still affectionately refers to not only as "Sa-Sa," but also other monikers such as "Sissy" and "Lis-Sis" (all of which the latter detests, despite her own peculiar pet names for each of her siblings). She also continues to bond closer with Luan, and one of her favorite things is whenever her funny sister reads stories to her, because she always invokes her own silly voices and sound effects whenever she reads from her storybooks. She also continues to grow closer to and bonds with Luna, who not only looks out for and babysits the growing baby more and more regularly, but the rocker also possesses a certain kind of nurturing, motherly instinct that is somewhat lacking in the other older Loud Sisters, which very much makes her a very ideal big sister.

* * *

Now at age eight, the twins are most unruly and undisciplined children living in the Loud House, as they both find themselves in trouble all the time. Lola is still the prettiest sister in the family, but because of revisions that had been made to the school dress codes and policies, she is not allowed to wear any of her make-up, jewelry, or certain accessories... but what she lacks in the trinkets, she more than makes up for in fashion: she is always one of the best-dressed girls at Royal Woods Elementary, and always has to have the finest clothing her parents can buy... or, whatever Leni would make for her, as she would often request Leni create something spectacular and original for her when the aspiring fashion designer was still living at home, thus resulting in the two sisters bonding and growing closer to each other, in some small way. Growing her lovely blonde hair even longer, she often wears it in a pair of French braids. While she still maintains her enormous popularity and an equally large social circle of friends among other kids in school who genuinely admire her for her beauty and continue to be impressed with and amazed by her numerous pageant achievements, there is a growing number of other kids who find her to be a conceited and vapid show-off; plus, being as spoiled as she is, she does not always play well with other kids, as everything always has to be done her way, or no way at all. Her behavior in the classroom setting is also increasingly unbecoming of a young lady, and she is considered the biggest nightmare of the third grade, as it is not uncommon for her to sass and disrespect her teachers or other faculty members whenever she feels they are too hard or unjust on her. None of this gets her into as much trouble with Principal Huggins, however, as the fights she gets into with other kids who bully Lana... despite the two of them always fighting amongst themselves, Lola's hypocritical mindset is that she is the only one allowed to pick on her twin, nobody else.

Always the tomboy, Lana has become even moreso growing older - so much so that she is often mistaken for a boy by other students, and faculty alike; with her hair cut so short that it actually looks like a boy's haircut, she often wears military-styled caps, oversized graphic tees, and camo pants. Inheriting a love of pranks from Luan, she likes to use the case of mistaken identity to her advantage: once people realize she is actually a girl and not a boy, she finds their reactions to be hilarious and priceless. Having grown closer to and bonded with Lynn, Jr., she has also inherited a love of sports and other physical activities from her athletic sister: she loves rough-housing and horsing around with her friends on the playground, and it does not matter whether they play tag, basketball, kick ball, four-square, tether ball, you name, she loves it. Because of this, she hardly has any female friends at all, given her lack of interest in feminine activities; she finds it easier to make friends with boys, and has become one of the very few girls at Royal Woods Elementary some of the boys are willing to play with (given other girls have cooties). Unfortunately, her tomboyish personality and love of pranks has also made her a big target for bullies. One day, she decided it would be funny to go into the boy's bathroom, instead of the girl's, and see what kind of reactions she could elicit from whichever boys just happened to be in the bathroom at that moment. Big mistake. She did not realize boy's bathrooms have urinals, and having grown up in a house with only one brother among nine other sisters, she also was unaware that boys pee standing up. Because of this poorly-planned prank, as well as her very boyish appearance, many bullies throughout school were soon spreading rumors that she was gay, transgendered, or a transvestite; slurs and homophobic remarks would be tossed her way, and she was unable to handle it. Still maintaining their close bond, Lola would jump in and pick fights with the bullies for harassing her twin - as much as Lana liked playing rough, she was powerless against the hurtful words hurled at her, which often landed them in Principal Huggins's office.

* * *

Now at age thirteen, Lincoln has been upgraded to Lynn, Jr. and Lucy's old bedroom - despite it being the smallest of the upstairs bedrooms, to him, it seems massive compared to the brick-a-brack closet that previously served as his makeshift bedroom. He wasted no time in making his new living quarters his own personal kingdom; becoming an even bigger nerd as he grows older, his new bedroom walls are adorned with selfies of him meeting his idols at various cons, such as Bill Buck, Rip Hardcore, the Spectre Hunter, and many others. Now also having more space for himself, he also set up a far more advanced gaming P.C., allowing him to game and engage in discourse via the internet with some of his friends within his social circle. Outside of the house, Lincoln is finishing up his final year at Royal Woods Middle School; during his years at Royal Woods Middle, he had become far more self-conscious about his appearance, since he was often teased about it - particularly his white hair, which he began experimenting with dying, usually various shades of blonde, as he found darker colors -like brown- made his dye jobs look all the more obviously fake. Puberty has also not been very kind to him, either; as acne claims his face, and his voice is breaking, he knows much of the school sees him as a dweeb, and is clearly not a popular kid... in fact, none of his friends are - they, too, are often seen as being nothing more than a bunch of geeks, but they also have their own share of personal torment as well, such as Clyde for being adopted by gay parents; Rusty for being a lanky, freckle-faced redhead; Zach for how short he is compared to his peers; and Liam for being a simple farm boy. Still being one of his closer sisters, despite having moved onto high school since then, there have been plenty of occasions where Lynn, Jr. wanted to return to Royal Woods Middle, and engage in a good-ol' dunkaroo with any students giving Lincoln and his friends a hard time, but she figured that would actually make things worse for the boys if others saw that a girl had to come to their rescue. Lynn, Jr. would try to give them tips on self-defense so they can stand up for themselves, but they were a relatively non-confrontational bunch by nature, and more often than not would just try to avoid any such problems as much as possible by just walking away - not that it did any of them any favors in terms of their reputations (or lack thereof), but it has spared them a considerable amount of physical injuries and other forms of physical torment.

* * *

Now at ages fifteen and ten, respectively, Lynn, Jr. and Lucy were upgrade to Luna and Luan's old room, the two younger sisters thrilled at having a bunk bed; claiming superiority and seniority, Lynn, Jr. called dibs on the top bunk, however Lucy rather likes the bottom bunk - especially whenever lying in one of her coffins, it feels like her old bed with the canopy, only more claustrophobic - which she actually likes. Always staying physically active, Lynn, Jr. hit a surprising growth spurt, and is now actually almost as tall as her oldest sisters, matching Luna in height; she is also pencil-thin skinny; and preferring to be outside than inside, exposure from the sun has also garnered her a few extra freckles over time as well. She is now a sophomore at Royal Woods High, and given that she is still very much athletic, she is very popular within the sporty crowd at school - she is often the star player of whatever girl's teams Royal Woods High has to offer: girls' basketball, girl's track, girls' soccer, girls' volleyball, to name a few. In just two short years, she has earned more regional trophies for the school's girl's teams than anyone else before her, so it is no surprise that, despite being only being a sophomore, regional colleges are already offering her athletic scholarships; it is only a matter of deciding which she wants to accept - but, she still has another two or more years to think these matters over. In addition to school and sports, she is also learning how to drive, and hopes to soon get her permit... unfortunately, she continually receives poor marks from her driving instructors, because of her problems with road rage. There have been occasions when practicing on main roads, where she would lose her temper with other motorists, and begin lashing out at them, such as if they cut in front of her when switching lanes, or blowing their horns at her for what they perceive to be her going too slow, despite driving at the posted speed limit, as per the driving instructors' rules (given her need for speed, and routinely driving anywhere from 20-30 miles over the speed limit). Both of her parents are concerned whether or not they will have a Deja vu on their hands with her repeatedly failing her driving tests, as did Leni years before - even though Leni was merely an absent-minded ditz and unable help herself; Lynn, Jr., however, needs to learn to control her temper if she wants to avoid getting into any potential vehicular incidents.

The past two years have been especially bizarre for Lucy. Although her physical appearance exhibits almost no discernable changes, she is now ever-so-slightly taller, and has grown her hair ever-so-slightly longer. She was never the most model student at Royal Woods Elementary - at least, not to the extent as Lisa - though she apparently did well enough in her schoolwork and extra-curricular activities that school officials felt her intelligence level surpassed those of other kids her age. As such, she skipped fifth grade altogether, and is now currently in her first year at Royal Woods Middle... but, is gloomier than ever before. Even before skipping a grade, she gradually began losing her other goth friends in elementary school, due to them moving away with their families, or being transferred to other schools; losing her best friend, Haiku, had more of a negative effect on her than she thought it would. On top of that, between being the youngest student in middle school, as well as being goth, she is very must regarded as 'the weird kid,' and is basically an outcast. Clinical depression has prompted her to expand her creative writing from poetry to short stories as a coping mechanism. Using herself as a model, she developed a series centered around a young goth girl, and her journey through a dark and distrusting world, while also pursuing the vampire she loves (who is almost a blatant rip-off of Edwin from _The Vampires of Melancholia_). Given her macabre writing style, her Language Arts teacher is more often than not uncomfortable with reading such dark, depressing material from such a young girl, which only makes her feel worse. With Lynn, Jr. still being her closest sister, she has often tried to help Lucy develop a thicker skin against the naysayers, but growing older only seems to make her all the more jaded and cynical toward the world. Over the past two years, not only has she continued to grow closer to and bonded with Luan -the older sister feeling a sense of responsibility to continue mentoring her younger sister in her creative endeavors- she has also grown closer to Rita, to the point that she, surprisingly, has become something of a momma's girl (a secret she begs Rita not to divulge, knowing it would only add to her torment). Rita, who is now, unhappily, exhibiting more fine lines around her eyes, and wearing reading glasses more often, had once dreamed of becoming a novelist herself, but had to defer her dream to raise a large family. Wanting her to be able to realize her full potential, Rita encourages Lucy to keep writing - even if what she writes about is not for everybody, as long as it satisfies and pleases her, then she should stick with it.

* * *

Now at ages nineteen and eighteen, respectively, Lori and Leni were the first of the siblings to move out of the Loud House, and head off to college. Before moving out, she weighed her options; once upon a time, Lori was determined to get into a prestigious university in the thriving metropolis of Great Lakes City, and major in Business Administration, with the hope of one day becoming a successful C.E.O. of a mega corporation, but after a while, it was becoming more obvious to her that her passion for golfing was winning out over that option: she preferred the idea of being able to turn something that she enjoys doing as something of a hobby, and actually make a professional career out of it (that, and she is also painfully aware that even in the 21st century, the cut-throat corporate world is still needlessly disadvantaged against women, even though she felt determined to power through and persevere against such blatant sexism in the workplace). She was accepted into Fairway University outside of Great Lakes City, and is presently part of Coach Niblick's golf team. As far as her budding career as a pro golfer is concerned, things are going incredibly well for her, but her campus life is otherwise less than ideal: although there are fewer miles between her and her beloved Bobby Boo Boo Bear, her college life and his work life limit the time they can actually spend together in each other's presence; because of this, whenever she is not practicing her swing, and he has freetime himself, they spend hours texting and/or video-calling each other... and her obsession with him drives her dorm roommate crazy, causing some lowkey friction between the two of them. Still, she plans to carry out her dream of one day marrying Bobby, becoming the future Mrs. Lori Loud-Santiago, and that they will have the most magnificent, opulent, luxurious, lavish, extravagant wedding their respective families ever saw: an Italian/Hispanic fusion wedding that will run for an entire week. Eventually, they will be the proud parents of their own eleven children - all of whom Lori has already decided she wants to give B-names (Bobby, Jr., Barry, Benny, Billy, Buddy, Bailey, Betty, Bitzy, Bonny, Bunny, Brittany) - and while Bobby, Sr. will remain at home caring for all eleven of their children, she will be traveling around the world on the pro golf tour.

Leni, meanwhile, has enrolled in a small creative arts institution in the neighboring community of Fern Valley, still hoping to one day realize her dreams of becoming a world-famous fashion designer. Her parents were a little concerned about her moving out and going off to college, given her absent-mindedness and short-term memory, but somehow, miraculously, she did eventually pass her driving test, and is able to drive herself not only to school, but also to Reininger's, where she still works part-time while balancing full-time schooling... unfortunately, she is always losing either her driver's license, or keys, and more often than not has to commute - either by taking public transportation, or carpooling with other students, such as her own dorm roommate - with whom, it should also be taken into consideration, that she, at least, is on better terms with compared to Lori, because her roommate often has to get her back into their dorm whenever she gets locked out. In addition to studying and designing fashion, she also decided to take up shop classes as well, where her skills in woodworking continue to improve - she has even sent her parents wooden busts she carved of them as a Christmas present... in the middle of May. She used to also occasionally volunteer in the campus cafeteria for a short time, but was eventually 'fired' after she caused far too many mishaps in the kitchen, such as accidentally starting a fire, forgetting to wear protective netting over her hair, not thawing frozen food at the proper temperature, mixing up condiments and spices, spilling other ingredients throughout the kitchen, and getting shells in the eggs... she would have been a restaurant inspector's worst nightmare.

* * *

With the two oldest Loud Sisters out of the house, Luna and Luan upgraded to Lori and Leni's old room. With it being a bigger room, and having more space, the two older sisters reveled in being able to do more with their respective talents: Luan enlarged and widened her makeshift stage, not only for herself and her comedy, but so Luna could have have more room to practice her guitars or drums. As a senior at Royal Woods High at age seventeen, Luna has become more and more comfortable in her own skin, and has become even more unconventional with her appearance and style. Maintaining her short pixie haircut, she regularly dyes it in various different colors, with her current color being a bright, electric, neon purple; and while she is not necessarily a girly girl, she occasionally will add subtle touches of cosmetics, such as hints of eye shadow, pale shades of lipstick, and glitter polish on her fingernails. Like Luan, she also was a late bloomer, but while she too only developed a small bust, unlike Luan, she instead inherited her mother's hips and backside - something that Sam really likes, as she cannot resist occasionally giving her girlfriend a playful spanking whenever they get a little frisky with each other on their dates. As her relationship with Sam has progressed, and grown deeper and more intimate, she hopes that after they graduate from school, they will get their own flat and move in together, but her parents object. Although Lynn, Sr. and Rita are supportive of their daughter's relationship with a girl, and happen to like Sam very well, they do not want the two of them to rush into things too quickly (that, and they are also quietly concerned that the hard rockstar lifestyle may result in the two of them getting caught up in some wild sexcapades they may regret later on), especially considering Luna is still unsure of what direction to take as she enters adulthood: does she want to further her education in case being a rockstar may not work out in the cut-throat world of the music industry, or does she think she has what it takes to go professional on her own (or, perhaps, even form a whole new group with Sam and some of their other band friends from school)? Whatever the case may be, her parents hope her mind will be made up by the time she graduates at the end of the current semester.

* * *

**Aren't you all so happy I wasted your time with this un-necessary mumbo-jumbo that you probably weren't even interested in to begin with? If nothing else, this points out that Luan and Luna are now in Lori and Leni's old bedroom, and are still roommates... which is actually essential to the story, as you'll see in an upcoming chapter. Stay tuned! We will return to our regularly-scheduled fanfiction story after this brief word from our sponsor, Fanny's Prank Emporium:**

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	7. Chapter 5: Wake Up, Maggie

**A/N: Okay, back to the story! And, well... things have gotten incredibly awkward. Have you seen the episode "Deep Cuts" yet? We were FINALLY introduced to a canon principal for Royal Woods High: a seemingly neo-hippy, would-be gypsy, Principal Rivers. As you may recall in **_**The Missing Loud**_**, I had created an OC stand-in for a Royal Woods High principal in the form of Principal Jones (otherwise known as "Mother Jones" among many students for her tough love demeanor). After all, at the time, we still had no actual Royal Woods High principal, and that story called for one... and, as you are about to read, like Juney in the previous chapter, Principal Jones is also re-appearing rather briefly in this, and another future chapter (although playing a far less significant role in this story), since, well, I've been working on this even before "Deep Cuts" aired, let alone introduced us to an actual canon Royal Woods High principal. This feels so weird, but I suppose now this is DOUBLY retroactively AU... I guess, in a sense, **_**The Missing Loud**_** technically is too.**

**Once again, I would like to stress that this fanfiction story is NOT posturing one ship over another - because I don't care who you want to ship Luan with, I'm just writing how I feel any interaction between Luan and Maggie could work within the context of **_**Loud House**_** canon - but, I do still feel it necessary to add this:**

**! SPOILER ALERT/TRIGGER WARNING !**** If you are an absolutely die-hard Luaggie shipper, and cannot accept anything other than that, I would advise you not read any further, because you are more than likely not going to like what's to follow. You have been warned.**

**Lastly, pop on over to my updated profile if you'd like to see a couple of illustrations from this chapter.**

* * *

Winter break had come to an end, and school was back in session for the new semester. During which time, it was becoming increasingly harder for Maggie to relax and focus in drama class, because she found herself becoming increasingly more jealous of Benny, as he too would continually bond with Luan during exercises or rehearsal; she felt certain that he was competition for Luan's affection, and she also could not understand what Luan could possibly see in such a dweeb like him anyway. Maggie was new to the concept of being in love, she had never experienced anything like this before in her life; the only way she knew how to describe it was being stuck in her own personal mindfuck, with Luan consuming her thoughts 24-7. Un-accustomed as she was to expressing her feelings and emotions, she was bottling everything up inside her, but after doing this for a period of time, she was growing tired of living with such a big secret, and wanted to find a way to open up to Luan. At the same time, despite being new to the concept of being in love, she knew that to confess your true feelings to someone is a huge risk, and she wanted to make sure that the right opportunity presented itself with the right moment for her to say the right thing: she was concerned that if she acted too soon, and/or too impulsively, she would rock the boat, and make waves, thus worsening her situation. However, she did begin trying to get her message across to Luan through little acts of subtlety, hoping the comedienne would pick up on the signals and hints she was putting out - such as actually trying to crack jokes with her, knowing how much she loves comedy; routinely flattering (or underselling flirtation) her with little compliments over almost every little thing she does; or even presenting her with little tokens of affection... such as on Valentine's Day. During drama class on the holiday of hearts (lucky for Maggie, Benny was absent from school with the flu that week), she had a little something to give to the friend she secretly admired. As her cheeks tinged with a little redness, she handed Luan a little folded piece of paper featuring a clown with a heart-shaped nose gracing the outside; upon opening it, she saw a bunch of heart-shaped balloons, as well as a hand-written note scribbled on the biggest balloon reading, '_I'm a __FOOL__ for you!_'

"Oh, wow! I haven't passed out Valentine's like this in YEARS!" Luan marveled at the little paper Valentine given to her.

"I guess you were overdue then, huh?" Maggie asked, with a weak chuckle.

"This was so sweet of you; thanks, Maggie!" Luan said, making her friend blush even more. "I wish I knew you were going to be passing out Valentine's this year, I would've gotten some and passed them out, too! I kinda miss doing that."

Although Maggie forced herself to keep smiling, she died a little on the inside; clearly, Luan was still was not picking up on any of the signals she was sending out. Nevertheless, the comedienne gave her friend another hug, thanking her once again for the Valentine. As Maggie also wrapped her arms around Luan, she felt a small sense of defeat, but she had to suppose that this was better than the alternative of having to worry about possibly competing with Benny on this day. As much as Maggie loved Luan, her naïveté was becoming increasingly frustrating, and the emo teen was beginning to feel she was exhausting her subtleties.

* * *

One Friday morning in early March, a crackling sound suddenly filled the halls and corridors of the school, as Principal Jones made an announcement: _"Attention please, attention please. This is Principal Jones, wanting to inform all students that the annual Royal Woods High Spring Dance will be coming up in another three weeks. The dance will be a formal event, so remember, students, to dress up in your best. There will be live music, as well as refreshments, and other activities, so be sure to check the bulletins for more information as well as the date and time. We hope to see you there, and have fun!"_

A formal dance party? This could be it! Maggie felt like this could be the opportunity she had been waiting for: she could ask Luan to the dance! What would make for a more romantic first date than slowly moving together in harmony to music? But, she had better act quick, because Benny may ask her first.

By the end of the school day, Luan was putting away her text books in her locker, while also removing her backpack to head for home. As Maggie was approaching her, she felt a certain spring in her step, almost as though she was walking across a field of clouds: this was it; this was her opportunity; this was her moment; she could hardly contain herself; she felt so alive.

"Hey, Luan," said Maggie, her voice actually sounding a little more lilting than usual.

"Hey, Maggs!" Luan greeted her friend.

"Soooo... did you hear that announcement Principal Jones made earlier about the school dance later this month?" Maggie asked, as she nervously began stroking her goose-pimpled arm.

"Sure did," said Luan, as she dropped her backpack to the floor. "You know something, Maggs? Dance is a great way to help improve your flexibility!"

Maggie was already liking the turn the conversation was taking, as her smile grew, "So, you can dance?"

"Well, I never actually took any lessons, but Lynn and I familiarized ourselves with some of the basic ballet moves..." Luan began demonstrating her ability to do plies, "See, she started doing it to improve her flexibility for sports, and I started doing it to improve my flexibility for pantomiming and physical comedy... I'll bet it could do wonders for you!"

"I really want to ask you something!" Maggie blurted out like a bursting dam.

"Fire away!" Luan said, as she stopped with the plies.

"About the dance..." Maggie began; she could hardly believe this was finally happening, as she looked into Luan's warm and friendly eyes, trying her hardest not to stammer while her nerves began firing up, "I was wondering if-if-if we c-c-could go-"

The conversation was interrupted when Luan suddenly felt somebody grab her by the hand, and twirl her around in place, before pulling her down into a dip. Needing a second to shake off the disorientation, she looked up to see Benny had dropped by, and was busting a move on her. Maggie frowned, and her eyes widened, as her mind started cursing, '_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!_' Luan started giggling as Benny raised her back upright, and twirled her once more.

"Wow! Benny Boy! Sometimes you make me feel like a whirling dervish!" Luan joked, as she shared a laugh with Benny.

"Just thought you'd like to go for a spin!" Benny joked back, sharing another laugh with her. "Actually, I just wanted to ask you something..."

"Ask me anything!" Luan exclaimed.

By this point, Maggie's mind was screaming: '_SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!_' She could feel an avalanche of angst practically burying her alive... was her worst nightmare about to happen?

Benny was still holding onto Luan's hand, as he raised it slightly, and held it tenderly, "I would like to ask for your hand at the Royal Woods High Spring Dance..."

An audible gasp escaped from Luan's lips, while her big brown eyes lit up, "Are... are you serious?!"

"Very," said Benny. "I would like to go to the dance with you."

Luan had not even considered going to the dance, let alone if Benny would be interested, but since he asked her, she gladly accepted. She threw her arms around his neck to share a cozy embrace, while squealing, "Of course! Absolutely! Yes-yes-yes!"

It did. Maggie's worst nightmare finally happened. Her soul was crushed; absolutely crushed. Streaks of black mascara ran down her freckled cheeks from the stinging tears flooding her reddening eyes - the one thing she was dreading the most had finally happened, and right before her very eyes. Feeling her heart exploding into a rain of glass shards as though the inside of her chest was completely collapsing, she turned and ran off, while Benny and Luan continued to playfully snuggle each other in front of the lockers, until they heard a heckle tossed their way from a passing student, '_Hey, nerds! Get a room!_' The two quickly pulled away from each other, but were unable to resist sharing another giggle.

"That's wonderful, Luan," said Benny. "I wouldn't dream of asking anybody but you!"

"I wasn't even planning on going if you hadn't asked me," said Luan. "But, we definitely have ourselves a date!"

Benny suddenly had a stunned look on his face that was quickly replaced with a coy grin, "Wow... that just hit me like a ton of bricks... our first date..."

Luan gasped again upon the realization of what she had just said, "I didn't even mean it like... I mean... that is to say, um... um..."

Benny just gazed at Luan, but his gaze indicated a look of re-assurance, as her smile quickly sprang back onto her own face, "Yeah... our first date!"

After two years, perhaps Benny and Luan felt they had matured mentally and emotionally enough for a serious relationship, as they shared in another hug with each other. They had hugged many times before as best friends, but this was their first hug as a couple, as he tenderly caressed the back of her head and neck, while she squeezed him so hard she could swear she felt a couple of pops in his spine. They pulled away from each other, both of them blushing, but possessing sparkles in their eyes, as Benny resumed the conversation, "I suppose we can make our plans and arrangements... and then in a few weeks... the two of us... dancing cheek to cheek."

Luan's smile just continued to grow, and her eyes continued to sparkle, "We'll be the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of Royal Woods High!"

They laughed once more, as Benny parted ways, "Well, see you later, Toots!"

"Bye, Benny Boy!" Luan waved as Benny walked away, before clasping her hands over her heart - looking every bit like a teenaged love puppy. Suddenly, she remembered something else: "Oh, so what were you saying about the dance, Maggs?"

She turned to resume her previous conversation with Maggie, but found the rest of the corridor basically deserted.

"Maggs? Maggs? Huh. Guess she had to go... oh well, I'll text her tonight, and see what she wanted to ask me."

* * *

Later that evening, Luan was the main focus at the Loud family dinner: she was so excited that she and Benny were now not only a couple, but that the Royal Woods High Spring Dance was going to be their first date; she felt ten feet tall. This was the happiest the family had ever seen her; knowing how much she and Benny mean to each other, the fact that they were finally making a step to progress their relationship made the rest of them so happy and proud for her... except for the twins - they were still at an age where that kind of mushy stuff grossed them out (and, of course, boys have cooties). After the Loud family finished with dinner, and the other siblings went off to engage in their own activities, the family comedienne sent her emo friend a text message:

_Hey Maggs, sorry bout earlier, what did you wanna ask me?_

But, Luan failed to receive a response to her text for the rest of the evening, figuring maybe Maggie was hanging out with some of her other emo friends, or was just simply too busy to respond right away.

* * *

The following Saturday afternoon, Benny and Luan got together for a cozy little lunch at Aloha Comrade, where the two discussed their arrangements for their first date at the school dance over a shared dish of fish and pineapples smothered in beet sauce. Neither of them had their own personal vehicles, and their respective family vehicles were clearly old clunkers that neither of them felt particularly comfortable driving; Benny, having been taught to be a gentleman, offered to pick Luan up at the Loud House, walk her to school, and walk her back to her door after the party was over. Both of them were so excited at the prospect of having their very first date, even though it took them by surprise - it reminded them of how much they already think alike, as if they were already meant to be a couple all along. Before they departed the restaurant, they both grabbed their mobile phones and took the time to update their relationship statuses on social media, tagging each other as being in a relationship with one another. Immediately, the two young lovers were receiving a flurry of heart emojis, and other congratulations from their respective circle of friends and followers - they suddenly felt like they had become the new 'it-couple' of Royal Woods High.

After their lunch, Luan returned home, debating on whether to wear something she already had in her closet, or if she should buy a new dress for the occasion. She still had a nice cash flow stashed away from the profits she had made from Funny Business, Inc., and thought, perhaps, a new dress would be something special to wear for such a special occasion... she clearly was not the fashionista that both of her oldest sisters were, but she remembered when both Lori and Leni had their respective first dates with Bobby and Chaz, they both bought a new dress for those occasions - the dresses became mementos for them of the first time they went out with their respective boyfriends. Being a sentimental soul by nature, Luan made up her mind that she would buy herself a new dress for the dance, so that it too could be a memento of her own first date with her boyfriend. It then suddenly donned on her: maybe that was it... maybe Maggie was wanting to ask her if she wanted to go out shopping for dresses for the dance. Realizing Maggie never responded, she pulled out her phone from her skirt pocket, and sent her another text:

_Hey Maggs, just got to thinking about what you wanted to ask me, was it to shop for dresses? I'm heading over to Reininger's if you wanna meet up there._

An hour later, Luan was browsing a selection of dresses at Reininger's at the Royal Woods Mall. Unlike Lori and especially Leni, she knew nothing about fashion: for the comedienne, accessories were squirting flowers and rubber noses; color-coordinating was deciding between blue or pink clown shoes. With prom season coming up, Reininger's had a rather large selection of really dazzling dresses, though Luan wanted nothing too flashy or gaudy - just something that would look nice enough not only for a formal dance party, but for her first date with Benny. After looking around for a little bit, she finally spotted something she liked: a simple, pale yellow, almost cream-colored, sleeveless dress that came just below the knees, with a matching scarf. She believed this would be perfect: the color was very apropos for spring, and she thought the scarf would add a certain elegance to the ensemble. After trying it on, and seeing that it fit just right, she bought it, and took it home with her. But, she was still curious about not hearing back from Maggie; her texts still remained unanswered, so she tried calling her friend directly, only to have the outgoing call immediately redirected to an automated, pre-recorded voice:

_"We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed at this time. Please check to see if the number you have dialed is correct, or hang up and try your call again later."_

This was really, really odd. Maybe Maggie turned her phone off and forgot to turn it back on? Luan was not sure, so she decided to try again tomorrow. After breakfast the following morning, she tried calling Maggie again, but got the same, exact pre-recorded voice:

_"We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed at this time. Please check to see if the number you have dialed is correct, or hang up and try your call again later."_

Luan could not figure this out at all. Was something wrong with Maggie? Did something happen to her? With the exception of she and Benny changing their relationship statuses the day before, it had been a while since Luan had really checked any of her social media feeds thoroughly, so she brought up all of her apps: Fartbook, Titter, and Instacram, to see if maybe something happened to Maggie, and she had posted about it, only to find that Maggie had unfriended and blocked her on everything. Now she was even more confused than ever. What was going on? Why did Maggie unfriend and block her on social media? And why is she not returning her texts or answering her calls? She was unable imagine what she could have done for one of her best friends to completely shut her out like this, but she had to find out - what if she did something really horrible and insensitive without realizing it? If she could find out, maybe she could try to fix it, and/or avoid doing it again in the future.

* * *

The following Monday, Luan arrived at school, feeling all sorts of confusion over what had been going on, but she hoped that if she saw Maggie, maybe she could get some answers from her. Sure enough, after she placed her backpack in her locker, and gathered up the text books she needed for her classes, she spotted Maggie further down the corridor, walking to her own classes, so she raced down the hall to catch up with her.

"Hey, Maggs! Wait up!" Luan called out, but Maggie only started walking faster. "Wait, Maggs! I wanted to talk to you!"

Maggie continued to walk faster, without even turning back, or acknowledging the comedienne calling out to her. Luan knew Maggie was prone to mood swings and wanting to isolate herself from others, but this is the first time it happened between the two of them. She continued to chase after Maggie, even grabbing her by the wrist, and stopping her in her tracks, but when she did, the sense of touch in her fingers alerted her to something not being right: she felt a lot of crustiness under her fingers. Luan looked down and observed Maggie's previously flawless wrist, which was now covered in a number of thick, crusty, dark red scabs. Learning about the emo lifestyle, she was aware of their tendencies of self-mutilation as a way of feeling SOMETHING in their mental, emotional, and psychological numbness, but this was the first time she actually witnessed it... or, more specifically, the after effects of it. In shock, Luan immediately let go of Maggie's wrist.

"Oh my God!" Luan shrieked, "Maggie! Did you cut yourself?"

"Leave me alone!" Maggie barked, as she resumed storming down the hall.

Luan was stunned by Maggie snapping at her, however, she still pursued her, "Wait, Maggie! What's wrong?"

"Fuck off, Loud!" Maggie barked, as she ran into the bathroom at the end of the hall, and locked herself in a stall.

Luan followed inside, bending over to see a pair of black boots dangling in one of the stalls further into the bathroom. She walked down to the locked stall door, and proceeded to knock on it. "Maggie?"

"I said leave me alone!" Maggie barked from inside the stall.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Luan asked.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Maggie nearly screamed.

"Maggie, I'm your best friend, talk to me!" Luan pleaded.

All went quiet for moment until the bell rang, indicating that their first period classes were now in session.

"Uh oh, we're late!" Luan said, but still there was no answer; she tapped lightly on the door one last time, "Maggie? Listen to me... meet me out back after school, so we can talk, okay?" Still no response. "Will you, Maggie? Please?"

Still no response, however Luan knew she was late for first period, so she ran out of the bathroom, hoping that Maggie will, indeed, meet up with her after school is finished that day so they can discuss the matter at hand.


	8. Chapter 6: Nothing

**A/N: This chapter will actually be directly mentioning/referencing the events of **_**The Missing Loud**_**... just for your information.**

* * *

After school had finished for the day, Luan stepped out through one of the double-doored exits of the main school building. Beyond the faculty parking lot behind the main facility was the school yard, where a few picnic tables were set up underneath some shade trees for students and/or faculty who like to eat lunch or study outside. She was at least relieved to see Maggie was already sitting at one of the tables, albeit with her back turned and resting against the edge of the table, while she looks on. The comedienne approached the table, taking a seat across from the emo teen, while waiting until the parking lot had emptied, and nobody else was around, so they could have their conversation in a little privacy.

"Maggie?" Luan began. "I've been trying to get ahold of you all weekend... you never answered any of my texts or calls... and then I saw you unfriended and blocked me on social media... are you upset with me about something?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Maggie always spoke in a rather deadpan and monotone manner that reminded Luan a lot of her little goth sister, Lucy. This time, however, the manner of which she spoke actually conveyed a certain kind of forlorn sorrow that Luan had never heard coming from her friend's voice before.

"What is it?" Luan asked, feeling incredibly concerned about what she possibly could have done to upset her friend. "Was it something I said? Something I did? Did I tell a joke that offended you? Whatever it is, you know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, Maggs."

At that moment, Maggie swiftly spun around, firmly placing her hands on the table, while rising from her seat, "You never even gave me a chance!"

"What are you talking about?" Luan asked as a wave of confusion washed over her.

"I had something, like, really important to ask you, Luan, and you never even gave me a chance!" Maggie said, her voice actually sounding somewhat emotional.

"Was it about the dance?" Luan asked, remembering that it was something that her friend wanted to discuss with her the previous Friday afternoon. "Because that's why I kept trying to get in touch with you all weekend; I thought maybe you wanted to go shopping for dresses or something, so I-"

"You really don't get it, do you?!" Maggie interrupted again, sounding even more agitated.

"Get what?" Luan asked.

"Luan! I love you!" Maggie finally admitted.

"I love you, too, Maggie," said Luan, in such an innocent manner. "You're one my best friends, I want to help you, which is why I'm trying to-"

Maggie leaned closer toward Luan, raising her voice so high she was practically screaming, "For fuck's sake, Loud! How fuckin' naive are you?!"

Luan just stared at Maggie like a deer in the headlights; she had never seen or heard her act this way before, and was completely dumbfounded by her profanity-ladened outburst.

"I LOVE you, Luan!" Maggie admitted again. "I love you, like you apparently love Benny!"

It took a moment for Maggie's statement to register with Luan, but once it did finally sink in and process that her declaration of love went beyond the platonic kind of love shared between two best friends, her eyes widened and her face blushed so red, one may have thought she had sunburn. "OH! Oh! Oh, Maggie... I... I had no idea... I had no idea you felt that way... I had no idea you felt that way about... ME..."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Maggie snapped. "You couldn't figure it out with all the signals I've been sending you?! I, like, literally spelled it out for you on Valentine's Day!"

"I thought that was just something you were passing out like friends do on Valentine's Day," insisted Luan. "I didn't know you were trying to tell me you have feelings for me!"

"Well, I do!" Maggie barked. "I fell in love with you, Luan... I've never felt so connected with someone like I do with you... you stir up feelings inside me I've never felt before, and nobody has ever understood me like you do... you're so caring, so kind, so compassionate... you've melted my heart... it's like... it's like if there was a God, and He sent me an angel, you were that angel..."

Luan just froze.

The emo teen resumed her confession, but by this time, the biting sharpness in her pained voice resigned into a much duller kind of pain, "I've been wanting to ask you out for such a long time... I wanted to ask you to the dance... but then Benny comes along and asks you before I could!" By this time, Maggie's eyes began misting as feelings of hurt and rejection resumed consuming her, "I guess I really was a fool... just a damn fool to think we could be anything more than just friends... especially since you already have Benny!"

Luan had no idea what to make of any of this; she was at a complete loss of words. Her eyes darted down to Maggie's wrist, seeing how the scabs and scars from her self-inflicted wounds not only looked fresher than they did earlier that morning, but were now infected as well, indicating that she had been scratching, irritating, and picking at them during the day. "Is... that why you slit your wrist?"

Maggie sighed as she squinted her eyes shut, squeezing a couple of fresh tears out of her ducts, "It was either that, or cut my chest open, and rip my heart out, so I wouldn't have to suffer the hell of having my heart broken by unrequited love that was never meant to be in the first place..."

Luan's face completely bottomed out by this point, feeling so remorseful that she had unwittingly broken Maggie's heart; she reached out and placed one of her hands over Maggie's hand, only to have the emo teen quickly pull it away - as far as she was concerned, she was no longer deserving of such a benevolent gesture from the comedienne. Still, Luan was at a loss for words, "Maggie... I... I'm so sorry... I'm so, so, so sorry... I really didn't know!"

"Well... I guess it doesn't even matter anymore now, does it?" Maggie asked with a sense of defeat, as she turned, and began walking away.

"Maggie, wait..." Luan called out, "Is... is there anything I can do or say?"

"What else is there to say?" Maggie asked as she paused briefly, before leaving Luan behind at the picnic table, the comedienne feeling as though she had a ton of anvils dropped on her head from above (and not in a cartoonish manner, either).

* * *

As the night wore on, it was anything but peaceful or restful, as Luan was trying to get to sleep, but those visions kept coming back to haunt her, preventing her from falling into slumber: the pain and anguish in Maggie's eyes, the dark red scabs all over her wrist, her emotional break down... and all over the revelation that she had fallen in love with her... Luan was so eaten up with guilt and remorse. She laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing she knew what to do, but she could not think of a thing, having never been in such a situation as this before. She finally rolled over and flipped on the lamp between the two beds in the room. Two years ago, Luan had run away from home and went missing for an entire week; feeling she was partly to blame for not being a better sister, Luna made a promise to Luan that no matter what problems she has, or what may be bothering her, she can confide in her, and she will try to help her out in anyway that she can. Given that Luna is bisexual, and has been steadily dating a girl for a couple of years, Luan was certain that her big sister was really the only one she could ask for help in her current situation. These days, Luna did not sleep with her headphones on so much anymore (if she had rolled over onto her side during the night, she would wake up the next morning with that particular ear red and throbbing from the pressure and lack of blood circulation). Still, she could not sleep in dead silence, so luckily, she gradually became acclimated to the various sounds her roommate made in her sleep - whether it be the silly way she snores, the slobbering sounds of her drooling, or mumbling jokes in her sleep. Without the headphones, Luan could easily try to awaken her big sister and get her attention.

"Luna? Luna? Lunes?" Luan called out, softly.

Luna's eyes began fluttering open at hearing her younger sister call out to her, "Hmm? Whuh? Whu... whuh is it, brah?"

"Luna?" Luan began, propping herself up on her elbow. "I've got a really, really big problem... I... I don't know what to do, but... I think you would, and... I was wondering if you could give me some advice?"

"Yeah, sure, brah," said Luna, as she yawned, and sat upright in her bed. "What's got ya in a funk?"

"It's Maggie..." said Luan. "You remember her?"

"I think so..." said Luna, with another yawn, and a stretch. "She's your emo mate, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's who," said Luan. "Well, anyway... I found out today that... well... she likes me... you know?"

Luna tilted her head a little, in confusion; still being somewhat groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night, she was not quite grasping the message very well, "Well, yeah? Would you dudes be mates if she didn't?"

"No, Luna," said Luan. "I mean... she LIKES me-likes me... You know? Like... how you and Sam like-like each other?"

"Ohhhhh," said Luna, with an ever-so-slightly cheeky grin on her face. "Now I get it. Kinda sweet, aye?"

"No, it's not, it's not at all; it's a real mess, Luna," said Luan, shaking her head. "She's really upset about it... Apparently she wanted to ask me out to the dance, but Benny asked me first, and of course I said yes, because he's the one I love... it's caused all kinds of problems..."

"I see..." mumbled Luna.

"I really need your help with this one, Lunes," said Luan, as she, too, sat up in her own bed. "I don't know what to do about this... I mean, I'm not like you, you know? I don't mean that the way it sounds... I mean, I'm not like the way you are... You know what I mean? I don't even know what I mean!"

Luna nodded, wearing a small, half smile across her face, "Chill out, dude; I hear ya. You don't 'swing that way.'" Luna said, while using air quotes to get her message across.

"Exactly!" Luan exclaimed.

"But, apparently Maggs does," said Luna. "Or, maybe she doesn't. It's possible she's not sure. Ya know, bi means a lot of things... there is such a thing as bein' bi-curious... I was till I heard Hayley Kyoko sing 'Girls like girls like boys do, nothin' new.' I was noticin' I was havin' collywobbles for girls, including Sam... then I came to realize that tune was more than just my jam... it was my LIFE..."

Luan shook her head once again, "I didn't know Maggie liked me that way... she apparently had been trying to send me signals, and I never even realized it... and now I feel really guilty, because I hurt her feelings and broke her heart... you know how angsty those emos can be..."

"Aye..." nodded Luna.

"Luna?" Luan asked. "Say I was Sam, and I told you I didn't feel the same about you that you feel about me... what... what could I say or do that would help make you feel better?"

Luna had to pause for quite some time and ponder on the thought-provoking question that her little sister had just proposed to her, until she finally had her answer: "Nothin'."

Luan's frown intensified, "That really doesn't help, Luna."

"I know, dude," nodded Luna once again. "But, that's kinda my point. If Sam didn't return my feelings, it'd break my heart, my achy-breaky heart... but... there's nothin' she could do or say that would make the hurt go away. She could say she's sorry, but that wouldn't make the hurt go away. She could say we could still be friends, but that wouldn't make the hurt go away. Rejection hurts, brah... but, different people handle rejection in different ways... I can't sing for Maggs, dude, so I can't tell you how she would react if you tried to tell her anything to make her feel better."

"Well, she really didn't take it well at all... I mean... she slit her wrist because I broke her heart," said Luan.

Luna was stunned, but not surprised - she, too, was aware of self-mutilation being common within the emo lifestyle as a means of trying to feel something amidst mental and emotional numbness. "Well... that's her problem, dude... it's a real bummer that she cut herself like that, but it's not your fault... you can't help not feelin' anything for her anymore than she can help feelin' somethin' for you... how she handles it is how she handles it, there's nothin' you can do about that."

"Luna?" Luan asked. "Do you think we could still be friends?"

"Like I said, dude," Luna continued, as she began rubbing her eyes, "I can't answer that one; that's somethin' the two of you are gonna have to figure out for yourselves..." Luna lowered herself down onto her elbow, while facing her little sister. "But, I will say this... Maggs and I have somethin' in common... you're the bestie we ever had... if I was in her boots, I'd rather keep you as a friend, than not have you in my life at all.. and I remember what it was like to not have you in my life once before."

Luan merely nodded at Luna's reminder of the time she had ran away from home for a week years earlier, but was thinking more intently on what her big sister had been telling her, "Luna? If Sam rejected you, would you still want to be friends with her?"

Yet another thought-provoking question that Luna had to think about for a moment, "I s'pose if she was cool with it... then... yeah, totally... like I said, it'd be better to have her as a friend than not have her in my life at all... it'd still hurt, but I could eventually get over it... and, I could probably eventually learn how to love her as a friend without bein' IN love with her..."

Luan finally started to smile a little.

"But again," Luna continued, "I can't sing for Maggs; that's somethin' she'll have to figure out for herself. The only thing you can do is just be honest with her... even if it hurts."

Luan sighed, before settling back down into her bed, "Thanks, Lunes."

"'Night, brah," said Luna, as she turned out the lights, and the two sisters returned to dream land.

* * *

As the rest of the week progressed, Maggie was absent from school; each day, Luan hoped she would be back, so they could try to talk things over, but each day, the heart-broken emo was a no-show. Her comment that she considered cutting her own heart out was causing Luan to assume the worst - she had to talk to Maggie about their friendship, where they stand, and their future, before she does something irrational, or worse. Come Saturday afternoon, Luan dropped by Maggie's house - a sight she had not seen in quite a long time. Reluctantly, she knocked on the front door of the large, Tudor house, but was instead greeted by Maggie's Mom; the passing of time had caused the color of her hair to fade a little, and she now also wore a small pair of glasses that were almost always resting close to the tip of her nose.

"Oh, hello, Luan," Maggie's Mom greeted her, "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Yeah, hey, Ms. Crawford," Luan meekly greeted her. "I haven't seen Maggie all week... is... is she home? I really need to talk to her..."

Maggie's Mom just looked at Luan sympathetically, "No, she's not home right now. Actually, she's been admitted into a mental hospital for a couple of weeks..."

Upon hearing this, Luan finally had a complete emotional breakdown, as she buried her face into the palms of her hands and wept uncontrollably. Maggie's Mom softly sighed, wrapped an arm around Luan's shoulder, and gestured her into the house, "Come on in, dear. We can have a talk about this..."

Moments later, Luan was sitting at the island counter in the kitchen, while Maggie's Mom brought both of them a glass of fruit punch, while taking a seat across from her.

"So, it really isn't any fault of yours, Luan," said Maggie's Mom. "I honestly had no idea about any of this going on, either... it's so hard to get Maggie to open up to me about anything, and it's only gotten harder as she's gotten older... I don't believe she ever really got over my divorcing her father when she was ten... since then, her behavior has just continued to spiral downward... she's gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd... embraced the emo lifestyle... and it's just snowballed from there. It's really driven a wedge between us. I can't do anything to discipline or be a parent to her, because she just keeps rebelling against me - she locks herself in her room, she yells at me, she curses me, I never know who she's getting mixed up with, or what she's doing... I wouldn't even be surprised if she's been doing drugs behind my back, either..."

Luan wiped her eyes and nose before taking a sip of punch and sighing, "I'm kind of surprised we ended up hitting it off as well as we did... I knew she was prone to a little moodiness from time to time, and I always tried to respectful of her tastes... I guess we, somehow, ended up bonding in a way more than I even knew..."

"I'm very grateful the two of you found each other; truth be told, you're one of her only friends I really approve of," admitted Maggie's Mom. "Ever since you began giving her miming lessons, and the two of started hanging out more and more... it was actually the happiest I'd seen her in a long time... you brought out a side of her I rarely see anymore. But, I just really, really wish she tried talking to me about this before things got out of hand..."

"I just feel so guilty about all of this..." said Luan. "Maybe if I had known how she really felt about me... I guess I could have gone out with her... I don't know..."

"It would have just made things even worse," said Maggie's Mom.

"How do you figure?" Luan asked.

"Would you have started going out with her because you felt the same about her, or because you felt sorry for her?" Maggie's Mom asked.

Luan had to pause for a moment to ponder on the question, though it was not difficult for her to figure out the answer, "Because I would have felt sorry for her."

"Exactly," said Maggie's Mom, while she, too, sipped on some punch. "It would have been a one-sided relationship, and it would have hurt her even more to see you didn't really reciprocate her feelings, or couldn't measure up to her expectations, and who knows how destructive she may have become then..."

"I'm really sorry about all of this, Ms. Crawford," said Luan.

"Don't be," said Maggie's Mom. "Like I said, none of this is your fault... I always dreaded something like this would eventually happen, or even worse... as much as it hurts knowing my daughter is presently in a mental hospital, I know this is what she really needs, and hopefully they'll be able to help her before she does something even worse, like kill herself, and she's threaten to do it on numerous occasions over the years... as strained as we are, I'm still her mother, and I still love her with all my heart... I can't bear the thought of her doing something like that - it would devastate me more than anything."

"I guess there's really nothing I can do about any of this, then..." croaked Luan.

"No, there isn't," said Maggie's Mom. "But, hopefully, she'll be returning to school after she's discharged, and if she's still willing to speak with you, maybe the two of you can work something out, and even remain friends... I know I'd really like to see that."

The two smiled weakly. "Thanks, Ms. Crawford," said Luan, as she arose from the counter.

"Take care of yourself, Luan," said Maggie's Mom, seeing the comedienne to the front door. "I really hope to see you again, soon."

Luan left the Crawford household, still feeling absolutely terrible about the entire situation, but a part of her at least feeling somewhat hopeful that, perhaps, a brief stay in a mental hospital may provide Maggie with the help and support she desperately needs right now.


	9. Chapter 7: Discharged

Luan walked down the street, feeling both hopeless and hopeful at the same time - she was hopeful that Maggie could get the professional help that she clearly needs during her stay at the mental hospital; she was hopeless because she still felt partly to blame for Maggie being in a mental hospital in the first place. She suddenly remembered something her emo friend had once told her a long time ago, in regards to her personal disdain for clowns: they are sad people who try to hide their true emotions behind a mask of grease paint and pratfalls... Luan never really saw clowns that way at all, but at the moment, she was feeling exactly as Maggie had described; she was, indeed, a sad clown. As she trudged down the sidewalk, almost shuffling her feet rather than taking normal steps, she heard her phone ringing in the pocket of her jacket; pulling it out, she saw Benny's face, name, and number on the screen, so she swiped to answer his call.

"Hey, Benny Boy..." said Luan, in an unusually solemn, almost defeated tone.

"Hey, Doll!" Benny responded on the other end. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing much, really..." croaked Luan.

"Oh," said Benny; half-expecting her to make a joke about her height. "Wanna do lunch?"

Luan paused, and sighed, "Yeah, sure... do you mind if we go to my dad's place?"

"Sure, no problem," said Benny.

Moments later, Benny met up with Luan at Lynn's Table. In the two years since opening the restaurant, business had gradually improved, and Lynn, Sr.'s staff had increased, which meant there was better service bringing in a steadier clientele. On top of that, Luan was just really in the mood for her father's cooking... comfort food. Lynn, Sr. himself brought out a dish of beef stroganoff -Luan's favorite- to personally present to their table. These days, Lynn, Sr. had lost a little more hair, and what little hair he still possessed was a lot grayer; in addition to a few new lines across his face, middle-aged spread had also claimed his body, giving him a fuller face, and adding a little extra paunch to his waistline.

"Here you go, you two crazy kids," said Lynn, Sr., as he placed the dish on their table. "The specialty of the house! I really had to use my NOODLES to prepare this one!"

Lynn, Sr. let out a guffaw of laughter, as did Benny, while Luan forced herself into a weak chuckle.

"Thanks, Dad," said Luan.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Mr. Loud," said Benny.

"My duty and my pleasure! You two kiddos enjoy yourselves! Shout if you need anything!" Lynn, Sr. said. As he turned away to step back into the kitchen, he had tears welling up in his eyes; the proud papa just could not believe his little girl (well, one of them, anyway), not only now had a serious boyfriend, but that he just served lunch for them to share... it seemed like just yesterday, she was a little brace-faced girl in pig tails, pretending that a hairbrush was a microphone, while putting on little comedy shows in the living room... she is growing up so fast.

Benny happily sampled the beef stroganoff, moaning ecstatically as he savored the bite he had taken, "Mmm! Gosh, Luan, your dad is such a great cook!"

"He really is," Luan responded with a weak smile.

Benny savored the bite a little more before swallowing, expressing his excitement to the comedienne, "I can't wait for our first date at the Royal Woods High Spring Dance!"

"Yeah, me either," Luan responded with another weak smile.

During their lunch, the curly-haired boy could tell something was wrong with his new girlfriend: she was unusually quiet the whole time they had been in the restaurant, which was not like her at all; not only that, but she was picking at her food with her fork more than she was actually eating any of it. This was very concerning to him.

"Is something wrong, Luan?" Benny asked.

"Why do you ask?" Luan responded.

"I don't know... you seem kind of glum and gloomy... Almost kind of like how Maggie acts sometimes..." remarked Benny, feeling a tad concerned that the emo teen's dour disposition may have rubbed off on the comedienne a little.

Luan squinted her eyes shut when Benny brought up her name; she sighed, "Well, actually, since you mentioned it... there IS a problem with Maggie..."

"I noticed she was absent from drama class yesterday..." recalled Benny. "Is she okay?"

"No, she's not... she's in a mental hospital..." said Luan.

"A mental hospital?!" Benny exclaimed, his fork nearly flying out of his hand. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

Luan shared the entire sordid affair to Benny, every detail, and did not leave a single thing out; the more Luan talked about it, the more the two of them began to lose their appetite, and could no longer eat. Luan had time to get over the initial shock of the entire situation, but now, that initial shock had been passed over to Benny, as he sat stunned.

"I... I don't even know what to say..." said Benny, feeling that same sense of being at a complete loss of words that Luan had felt when Maggie dropped the bombshell on her previously.

"I really don't think there's much TO say..." said Luan; to keep dwelling on it was keeping her in a very emotionally fragile state.

"Luan?" Benny asked.

"Hmm?" Luan responded.

Benny felt incredibly awkward regarding the question he was about to ask of Luan, but morbid curiosity was getting the better of him, "If Maggie really did ask you to the dance before I did... would you have gone with her?"

"Well..." Luan began, "until you asked me... I wasn't even really planning on going to the dance, anyway... and if she did ask me... I probably would have assumed she just wanted to go as friends, maybe just to hang out, or dance with other boys and stuff... which... I really wouldn't have been too interested in, anyway... so... no... I really wouldn't have."

That much, at least, was of some comfort to Benny.

"Besides," Luan continued, trying her hardest to screw a convincing smile on her face, "you know you're the only one I have any feelings for..."

Benny also smiled a little, but upon learning about Maggie's true feelings, something about her was finally starting to make a little more sense to him: "I guess this explains, now, why she always seemed so hostile towards me... I guess she was actually jealous of me being so close to you... and probably jealous of our friendship..."

"I remember you mentioning her hostility once before..." recalled Luan. "But, then again, I just assumed it was because you guys had only just met, and maybe she hadn't warmed up to you just yet, since it took her a long time to warm up to me, too..."

Benny shrugged, and tried to lighten the mood a little bit, if only to ease her tension, "I guess I can understand how she feels, though... I mean... you really are a wonderful girl, Luan... funny... talented... cheerful... compassionate... cute as a button..."

A light snort erupted from Luan's nose, as Benny's parade of compliments tugged at her heartstrings a little.

"I guess I'd probably feel the same way if I lost you to somebody else..." Benny admitted.

Luan smiled a little, but then frowned again, "I still feel really guilty about it, though. Even though I don't feel the same way, I wouldn't want to hurt Maggie's feelings for anything..."

"I know you wouldn't," said Benny. "So... Are you going to try to talk to her whenever she's discharged from the mental hospital?"

"If she's even willing to still see me at all, I'd like to..." said Luan. "I know things will never be the same between us now that this is all out in the open... but... I'd be willing to still be friends, if she is..."

Benny nodded, knowing how much friendships mean to Luan; the comedienne never really made friends easily, and although there were a few other classmates at school and in theater class she would consider as such, Benny and Maggie were clearly her two closest and dearest of friends.

* * *

Two weeks later at Royal Woods High, Luan opened her locker one Monday morning to discover a note had been slipped into it. Pulling the folded piece of paper out of the tiny envelope, she read a note in exquisite hand writing that said, '_MEET ME OUT BACK AFTER SCHOOL TODAY.'_ There was no signature or other form of identification from whom the note came, but Luan just knew it had to have been Maggie - she must have finally been discharged from the mental hospital.

Sure enough, after the school day was finished, Luan stepped out through the same double-doored exit of the main school building, and found Maggie sitting at the exact same picnic table they sat at previously - only this time, she was sitting in a sideways position, rather than having her back completely turned against the table, though with her head lowered, and her arms folded. Luan raced over, grabbing a seat across the table from the emo teen.

"Maggie! I'm so happy to see you again!" Luan exclaimed, though Maggie was unresponsive.

As Maggie continued to sit turned to the side, Luan could not get a good look at her face, but from what she could see of Maggie's profile, she did have a somewhat disheveled look about her; she must have had to go through quite a bit of treatments and tests at the mental hospital. Still, Maggie sat, staring at the ground, never making eye contact with Luan. Like the last time, Luan waited for the faculty parking lot to empty, so she and Maggie could speak a little more privately.

"Maggie..." Luan began, though the emo still would not turn around to face her; she hoped she was at least paying attention to what she has to say. "I... I just want you to know how sorry I am that all of this happened... for breaking your heart, and hurting your feelings... I never would've intentionally hurt-"

Maggie interrupted her, "No, Luan... I'm the one who should be sorry..."

Luan was taken aback by Maggie's words, "Huh?"

"It wasn't right for me to have kept all of this a big secret from you for so long," Maggie continued, "and then lash out you the way I had for having not picked up on any of my subtleties, or the signals I was sending out... because... you didn't know... I never told you..."

"That's right, I didn't know," agreed Luan. "How was I supposed to know how you felt about me if you never said anything upfront?"

"I know... I owed it to you... to both of us, really... to clear the air, and get it out in the open... but... it was just so hard for me to... to bring myself to tell you in some way..." Maggie continued. "I... I was afraid if I said something too soon, or too impulsively, I would end up saying something dumb or stupid, and then make things worse... that's kind of why I just kept sending out little hints and signals, just hoping you'd eventually get it. I'm... not really good at expressing myself in words..."

"I understand," said Luan, nodding sympathetically.

Finally, Maggie turned to face Luan, and she could get a better look at just how mentally and emotionally drained she was, "After having these past couple of weeks to think about things... I... I kinda realized what really happened..."

"What's that?" Luan asked.

"I never really had a friend like you before..." said Maggie. "I mean... a true friend... not just a group of friends out of convenience because of shared interests, or because we have the same lifestyle... I mean... somebody with whom I could really connect on a deeper level... I didn't know how to respond to that..."

Luan meekly nodded; understanding where Maggie was coming from, "I actually know how you feel, Maggs... when I was growing up... I was always the weird kid that nobody really wanted to hang out with... and before I met you... and even before I met Benny... just about the only best friend I ever had in my life was my big sister, Luna..."

"You're at least lucky you have sisters..." said Maggie. "Not that being an only child, like, ever really bothered me... but, at least you had somebody you could connect with..."

"I suppose you have a point..." said Luan. "I confess, I do have a deeper connection with some of my sibs than I've ever had with anyone else... Luna... Lucy... Lincoln... even Lily..."

The two continued to sit in silence for a little while longer, maintaining their eye contact with one another; Luan could just see there was still a lot of hurting and pain lingering within Maggie's dull, lifeless, smoky gray eyes.

"Maggie?" Luan was still wanting to get some answers out of Maggie, while she was still willing to open up to her. "I... I assume... because you had unfriended and blocked me on social media, that-"

"I did what I thought was the right thing to do..." Maggie interrupted again. "I thought... because you're so happy with Benny, that... that... well... that I would just stand in the way of your happiness with my own misery... I'd rather be miserable than ruin your happiness... I'm used to being miserable all the time... I wouldn't wish it on you."

Luan's eyes started misting; already, Maggie was feeling upset about seeing Luan like this, as she broke their eye contact, and stared at the table below.

"I thought... the best... the only thing I could do... was try to erase you from my life..." continued Maggie. "I thought maybe if I could erase you from my life, I could erase you from my mind... and if I could erase you from my mind, I could erase you from my heart... but, that just made me think about you all the more... I was so consumed with feelings I've never felt before... I cut myself, hoping the physical pain would take my mind off my mental and emotional pain... but it didn't really help..."

Luan wiped her eyes and sniffed as she stole another glance at Maggie's wrist; the crusty scabs may be diminishing, but the skin-deep scars never will. The young comedienne then did her best to nurse the emotional wounds the emo teen was still dealing with, "You... you really don't have to erase me from your life, Maggie... I know we have very different personalities, but... you really have been an amazing friend... one of the best friends I've ever had... and... I... I'm more than willing to still be friends... if you're willing..."

"What would be the point?" Maggie asked with a defeated shrug.

"Well, friends can still love each other without being IN love with each other..." said Luan. "Besides, you said so yourself: you never had a TRUE friend before... wouldn't you rather still have me in your life as a friend than not have me in your life at all?"

Maggie shut her eyes, hung her head, and shook it, to Luan's disappointment, "It would just hurt too much... being in love with you hurt... losing you to Benny hurt more... still being friends with you - knowing I can't be with you - would hurt even more... I just don't want to hurt anymore."

The mist in Luan's eyes finally gave way to full-blown tears, "I... I understand..."

Maggie sadly sighed, and turned away, "I'm also dropping out of drama class... I just can't handle it anymore... I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry, too, Maggie... I'm so very, very sorry..." sobbed Luan. "I'd give ANYTHING to be able to make the hurt go away..."

"I know you would... that's one of your qualities I realized made me fall in love with you in the first place - your compassion." Maggie finally arose from the picnic table and began to wander away, but not before leaving Luan with some parting words: "I hope Benny will treat you right," she said, as the tears finally escaped her eyes. "He's very lucky to have you."

Luan watched as Maggie wandered away and disappeared from her sight altogether; she buried her face into the palms of her hands, weeping and sobbing, as she lamented over the loss of one of the best friends she ever had in her life. She was so hoping that Maggie would be willing to still be friends, and maybe even accept that despite not being able to reciprocate the same kind of romantic love she felt for her, her otherwise unconditional love of friendship would be better than nothing, but she could see why it would be too painful for her to handle. Knowing there was nothing more that could be done about this, Luan eventually left for home as well.

* * *

Luan arrived home sometime later, and upon stepping through the front door, she heard the familiar sounds of an electric guitar being played and her older sister's voice releasing the sounds of song. Following these sounds up the stairs, the saddened comedienne entered the bedroom the two of them now share to find Luna sitting on the foot of her bed, practicing a new song she and Sam had been working on; when the purple-clad rocker looked up, and saw the tear-creased face of her little sister, she knew something was amiss:

"What's wrong, brah?" Luna asked in concern, setting aside her purple AXE.

"Maggie came back to school today..." croaked Luan.

"Yeah? So... what happened?" Luna asked.

Luan sniffed, "She doesn't want to be friends anymore..."

Luna offered a look of sympathy.

"She said it would just hurt her too much to keep being friends..." Luan continued, "and she doesn't want to hurt anymore..."

Luna sat quietly for a moment, "That sucks, brah. I'm really sorry..."

Luan shuffled over to the foot of her own bed, taking a seat, while folding her hands into her lap, "You were right, though... I guess there really is nothing that can be done or said to make the hurt go away."

"No..." said Luna, while shaking her head. "But, at least you gave it your best shot... you were still willin' to work it out... you're a true-blue friend, dude... don't go changin' to try and please anyone; stay just the way you are."

Luan briefly smiled a little, but sadly sighed. Her eyes darted across the room, landing on her vanity, and zeroing in specifically on one of Maggie's tokens of affection she had proudly displayed next to Mr. Coconuts: the Valentine she gave her last month, with the clown wearing a heart-shaped nose; such a token now serving as a reminder of a former friend's heart being broken by unrequited love. Luna watched with empathy as she witnessed her sister walk over to her vanity, remove the card from the top surface, and drop it into a bottom drawer - Luan could not bear to look at it anymore, but also did not have the heart to completely throw it away in the trash.

* * *

After nightfall, Luan, once again, was unable to sleep, as the situation with Maggie continued to eat away at her conscience; in a house with ten other people, she actually felt so alone. Growing up as little girls, whenever she was feeling bad about something, Luna would let her sleep with her in her top bunk; in spite of the passage of time, and both of them on the threshold of adulthood, Luan was feeling like she could use that same sense of comfort and closure from her big sister. Letting out another sigh, she slipped out of her bed, and shuffled over to Luna's bed, where she gently tapped her older sister's shoulder.

"Luna? Lunes?" Luan asked softly.

Luna groaned, as she opened her eyes and looked up at her, "What's wrong, now?"

This response made Luan feel worse about waking her in the middle of the night again. "Never mind... forget it... sorry I woke you..." Luan said dejectedly, as she turned and sadly trudged back to her own bed.

"Naw, naw, I'm awake now, what is it?" Luna mumbled, closing her eyes again.

Luan turned back around, and began stroking her arm, "I just wanted to ask... if I could sleep with you tonight...? Or... are we too old for that kind of stuff now?"

Luna opened her eyes and looked up at Luan in surprise; she could not remember the last time she asked to sleep with her, but knew her little sister was in need of comfort during her current situation. The surprised look on her face slowly transitioned into a supportive smile, "Hey... we're sisters... we're never too old for this stuff..." Luna scooted over to the far side of the bed, pulling back the covers with one hand, while patting the empty space on the mattress with the other, "Hop on in, sis."

Luan smiled as she crawled into Luna's bed and wrapped her arm around her big sister's torso, while Luna draped the covers and her arm around her little sister's shoulders, snuggling her closely.

"We can do this any night you got the blues," Luna assured Luan.

"Thanks, Lunes... I don't know what I'd do without you..." Luan said, as she shut her eyes, and nestled down into her sister's warm and loving embrace.

"Everything's gonna be alright, dude... I promise... everything's gonna be alright," Luna said in a most soothing, reassuring voice, kissing Luan on the head.

The comfort of Luna's words, and the warmth of her embrace helped ease Luan's nerves and melt away the tension that had been building up inside her; finally, she was able to enjoy a peaceful night's sleep - perhaps the most peaceful night she had in a long time.


	10. Chapter 8: Oh, How We Danced

**A/N: Here we are, the final chapter of our story (and, I won't lie, this is actually my personal favorite chapter). Also, pop on over to my updated profile page to see a series of illustrations from this chapter!**

**Posthumous A/N: Greetings, dear readers! I come from the future to edit this chapter with Benny's now-canon surname, which had not been revealed at the time this story was written and published, which prompted me to have to make up a surname for him. Interestingly, much like the surname I made up for him originally, his now-canon surname is also obviously Jewish-sounding as well.**

* * *

It was the last Saturday of March, the date of this year's annual Royal Woods High Spring Dance, and both of the oldest Loud sisters who were still living at home spent a majority of the entire afternoon preparing for it... 'Primping,' as they called it. Not only was Luan going to the dance with Benny, Luna was also going to the dance with Sam... Even though dancing is really not Sam's thing, they both still wanted to go together. Sam actually had access to a reliable vehicle, so she was going to be picking Luna up, but when she heard about Luan and Benny going to the dance, she offered to also give them a ride, though they politely declined - this was their very first serious date, and they wanted to carry out their plans exactly as they had made them.

Like Luan, Luna was not much of a fashionista either, but she wanted to look her best for the dance with Sam; she picked out a sequined mini-dress in a matching shade of purple as her dyed purple hair, which she accessorized with white go-go boots, lavender leggings, and a fuzzy boa in a retina-burning shade hot neon pink. Luna stood before Leni's old full-length mirror hung on the backside of the closet door, observing her new ensemble: "Well, how do I look?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this about my own sister," said Luan, as she fashioned her hair into a little bun, "but you are smokin'! Sam's gonna love it!"

Luna smiled weakly at her sister's compliment, but a look of concern swept across her face again, "You don't think it's a might too flashy, do ya?"

"Since when are you concerned about being too flashy?" Luan asked in disbelief.

"I didn't know if maybe I looked like I was tryin' too hard..." admitted Luna.

"Don't be silly, you look so gorg!" Luan exclaimed. "Your dress is hugging your body in all the right places, plus your boa adds a little extra zhuzh to your ensemble!"

"Much like that little scarf that comes with your dress," said Luna, just as Luan was wrapping it around her neck and draping it over her shoulders. "It literally says you're elegant without tryin' to look frou-frou."

"Totes!" exclaimed Luan.

Luna's eyes widened, as she turned toward Luan, with a look of horror on her face, "Oh, bloody Gesuf... I just realized somethin', brah!"

"What's that?" Luan asked.

"We're turning into... Lori and Leni!" Luna said in a manner similar to a character in a horror movie.

Luan's eyes also widened at that realization, "Luna... bite your tongue! Don't talk like that!"

Luna playfully clinched her tongue between her teeth, mumbling incoherently, and giving Luan a big laugh; even the resident rocker could possess something of a sense of humor in her own right.

* * *

As the afternoon was drawing to an end, the two sisters were finally finished preparing themselves for their dance, and as they began descending the stairs, they could see their parents were waiting for them at the bottom, with Lincoln holding a camera as well.

"Oh, my goodness! Lynn, have you ever seen two more beautiful young ladies in your life?" Rita asked.

"Never in all of my born days," said Lynn, Sr.

Luna and Luan exchanged glances with each other. Their parents meant well, of course, but they both remembered this exact same routine when both Lori and Leni went to their respective proms when they were still living at home. Rita did, however, have genuine tears in her eyes - of course she already went through all of this twice before with Lori and Leni, but she still was having a hard time believing she was going through this all over again with her third and fourth eldest daughters: they were growing up so fast. "Get some pictures, Lincoln, so we can preserve these precious moments!"

Luna and Luan resisted rolling their eyes, but they knew how much this meant to their parents, so they grinned and beared it. Lincoln snapped several pictures of his sisters while they were still on the stairs: a few with the two of them together, and a few of each of them by themselves.

Finally, the two sisters were ready to leave the house, and head off for the dance, but not before each of their parents had to give them one final piece of advice:

"Now, remember, ladies," Rita began, "I know you both have your own sweethearts you're going to the dance with, but don't be rude if somebody else wants to cut in and dance with you, as well."

"But, of course, if somebody should start getting aggressive with you, remember, you have the power to tell them no," added Lynn, Sr.

"We know," Luna and Luan replied, in stereo.

"Have fun, you two!" Rita said.

"And even though it's the weekend, don't forget you two still have a curfew!" Lynn, Sr. reminded them.

Once again, the two sisters resisted rolling their eyes at their parents' well-meaning behavior, but they finally stepped out onto the front porch, and took in the radiant orange and gold-tinted glows that were cast onto the surrounding structures and fauna from the setting sun. Just as the two pressed down the walkway in front of their house, a little compact car had pulled up to the curb, with Sam behind the wheel; she had borrowed it from her parents. Over the past couple of years, Sam gradually cut her hair shorter and shorter - almost as short as Luna's pixie cut, and much like Luna, she also routinely dyed it in different colors that suited her mood; for the spring, she presently had it dyed in a pastel shade of blue. For the dance, she was wearing a sleeveless, fuchsia dress with a ruffled, floor-length skirt. She rolled down the windows and called out to her girlfriend, "Luna! Gurl, you are smokin'!"

Luna blushed, while Luan smiled at her, "I told ya!"

Luna skipped over to the car and planted herself into the passenger seat, while Sam called out to Luan, "Hey, Luan! I can still give you and Benny a ride, if you guys want!"

"Thanks, Sam, but we're good!" Luan said.

"Okay, see you guys later!" Sam said, as she rolled up the windows, and drove off with Luna.

While Luan watched them drive off, she heard a voice address her from behind, "I have never seen you look so charming and elegant before!"

She turned around and found Benny had arrived, suited up in a tuxedo, with a carnation in the button hole of his lapel; he also had attempted to comb his hair as best as he could, so his natural curls looked rather matted. Luan blushed at what was, perhaps, the biggest compliment he ever paid her, "Thanks... you look mighty handsome this evening as well, sir."

Benny also blushed, "Thank you, my beloved."

Luan could not help but giggle and demure at Benny calling her his beloved. He offered up his elbow, she took it, and they walked to Royal Woods High. All the while, the sun was still setting into the horizon, and Luan was still absorbing the wash of orange glows their surroundings were exhibiting, only this time with Benny by her side, which made their walk seem all the more romantic.

"This is amazing..." said Benny. "It's almost like we're in a movie of our own..."

Luan giggled, "I was thinking the same thing... all that's missing is the incredibly clichéd and cheesy romantic music playing as we walk off into the sunset..."

"We'll be hearing the music soon enough," said Benny.

Sure enough, they were hearing the music. The gymnasium was opened up for the dance party, a live D.J. was providing the music, while a large area in the middle of the gymnasium was cleared for the students to serve as the dance floor. Both Benny and Luan were surprised to actually find themselves drawing so much attention from other students: both of them cleaned up very, very nicely, and as such, various students were asking to cut in for dances with either of them. Taught to not be rude, they reluctantly accepted the requests from their classmates and peers - but neither of them enjoyed it as much as they did with each other, and would rush back to one another whenever a new song started playing. Luan may not have taken any actual dance lessons, but Benny had in the past - those lessons paid off whenever Mrs. Bernardo had cast him in school musicals - Luan knew he was a smooth mover, but dancing with him at the party helped her realize how absolutely graceful he really was... it was so much more preferable over other students who stumbled, were klutzy, or would accidentally step on her feet.

Partway through the evening, the two grew a little tired, and decided to take a break from the dancing. A portion of the gymnasium was set up as something of a lounge area for students who wanted to take a breather, have some refreshments, and just sit and chat. Benny poured he and Luan a couple of cups of punch to whet their whistles, but as Luan took a sip, she noticed something, or rather, someone, sitting all by herself at one of the tables. "Oh... I can't believe it..."

"What?" Benny asked.

"Maggie's here!" Luan said.

Maggie sat all alone at a table in her traditional posture of having her arms and legs crossed, dressed in a simple deep plum-colored mini dress, black leggings, and her usual black boots, while also having her hair pulled back into a large braid. Being something of a masochist, she actually wanted to make herself suffer, and had only come to the dance just for the sake of being miserable... she spent almost the entire evening sitting and sulking; occasionally, a boy may approach her to ask for a dance, but she would blow each and every one of them off, possessing no interest in dancing with anybody. She knew Luan would be here dancing with Benny, though she could not even look at her all evening - it intensified her anguish even more. Benny and Luan shared a sympathetic look with one another.

"I actually feel sorry for her," admitted Benny. "She looks so pitiful."

"Yeah, she really does..." agreed Luan. "Well... what do you think?"

Benny silently exhaled through his nose.

Moments later, Luan took a seat next to Maggie at the table she was sitting at.

"Hey, Maggie..." greeted Luan. "I didn't think I'd see you here tonight..."

"I felt like torturing myself..." said Maggie, in her perhaps her lowest and most emotionless voice ever. She stole a glance at Luan, looking her up and down, seeing how gorgeous she looked in her dress, and how her hair and face were made up for the occasion; she was so stunning, Maggie did not want to take her eyes off of her, but the more she looked, the more her eyes began to mist, so she turned away while her pale skin started tinging with redness. "You look SO beautiful tonight..."

"Thank you. You look very pretty tonight as well," said Luan; Maggie was pretty in her own way, but she, likewise, cleaned up quite nicely. She took notice of Maggie's wrist - because the sleeves on her dress were 3/4-length, they exposed much of her lower arms, so she had covered the scabs and scars on her wrist with bandages. Luan then made a feeble attempt to further break the ice, "I had to take a little breather... otherwise, mine would be UN-happy feet... hehehe, get it?"

As Luan forced herself into a weak chuckle, Maggie simply glared at her, the joke doing absolutely nothing to lift her spirit. They sat in awkward silence for a moment, but when the music started up again, the comedienne made the emo an offer: "Maggie? May I have this dance?"

Maggie looked over at Luan in confusion, "Wh-what?"

"May I have this dance? In fact, if you want, I'll lead..." Luan arose from her seat, and extended her left hand, while Maggie just stared at her blankly for a moment.

"What... what about... Benny?" Maggie asked.

"We both have been dancing with others all evening," explained Luan. "Besides, he said he's okay with us sharing a dance... what do you say?"

Maggie continued to stare at Luan for a moment, but the comedienne gave her a re-assuring smile. With that, Maggie finally, yet reluctantly took Luan's hand, as she pulled her out of her seat, and began waltzing their way out onto the main dance floor, while the sounds of Elvis Presley's smooth voice began filling the gymnasium...

_Wise men say only fools rush in_  
_But I can't help falling in love with you_  
_Shall I stay? Would it be a sin_  
_If I can't help falling in love with you?_

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_  
_Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be_  
_Take my hand, take my whole life too_  
_For I can't help falling in love with you_

Really? That song? Such cruel irony. Maggie was certain that if there is a God, He must really hate her. To actually feel Luan's body up against her own as they held each other, dancing slowly to the song playing, Maggie's emotions were at an all-time high. She rested her head onto Luan's shoulder, trying her hardest to keep the tears from flowing as her mascara ran, and although Luan was wearing no kind of perfume, Maggie thought she smelled lovely. Luna and Sam happened to notice the two as they were dancing to the music as well (or trying to, despite Sam being physically awkward), both of them sharing a curious look with one another; Sam knew not of the situation that was going on, but Luna did, and revealed a small smile, hopeful that, perhaps, things would work out well after all. Benny watched from the punch bowl, as part of him was still feeling sorry for Maggie... he could not blame her, though; Luan is a wonderful girl, he could understand why she would be heartbroken over losing her. At the same time, Benny also wore a small smile across his face; he also knew that Luan is an amazing friend, and he thought it was touching and heartwarming that she wanted to do something to help a hurt friend.

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_  
_Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be_  
_Take my hand, take my whole life too_  
_For I can't help falling in love with you_

_For I can't help falling in love with you_

The song ended, and the students stopped dancing, while Luan and Maggie pulled away from each other.

"Thanks, Luan," said Maggie, as her mascara continued to run. "That... that really meant more to me than you'll ever know..."

Luan cupped Maggie's face with her hands, wiping away the streaks of black from her freckled cheeks with her thumbs, "I know it doesn't come easily to you... but... I want you to be happy, Maggie... I may not be able to give you the kind of happiness you were hoping for, but I can at least do this little something for you."

Maggie slowly smiled, "This is the happiest I've felt all evening... actually, it's... it's the happiest I've felt in a long time..."

Luan leaned in and gave Maggie a brief little peck on her cheek, causing her to blush even more, "I'm still more than willing to still be friends, if you are... like I said... friends can still love each other without being IN love with each other... and I know a REAL friend is what you need more than anything..."

Maggie placed her hands over Luan's hands on her face.

"Friends?" Luan asked, hopefully.

Through her smile, Maggie's eyes were swimming, and her chin was quivering, but she finally sniffed and nodded, "Friends."

Luan happily hugged Maggie, while she, too, returned the embrace.

"My love for you is unbounded," said Luan softly, as she gently rubbed Maggie's back. "Please don't ever forget that."

"I won't," mouthed a tearful Maggie, without making any audible sound.

With that, the two girls pulled away from each other once more; Luan gave Maggie another re-assuring smile, deeply grateful that she and one of her best friends had allowed each other back into their lives once again. The two then parted ways, as Luan returned to her date, while Maggie sadly, yet contently sighed, and returned to the lounge area to sit the rest of the party out, contemplating that, perhaps, still having Luan in her life - even as a friend - would be better than not having her in her life at all.

"Everything okay?" Benny asked, as Luan returned to the punch bowl.

Luan nodded, overcome with a wave of relief and satisfaction, "I think so."

Benny smiled, then groaned a little, "Ugh. I can't believe how everybody keeps cutting in on us... when did we become so popular around here?"

"Maybe ever since we became actual celebrities in drama class!" Luan said, sharing another laugh with Benny.

Benny noticed one of the set of double doors to exit the gymnasium were open, and he knew there was a full moon out tonight, "Why don't we go somewhere so we can dance the rest of the night away, just we two?"

"Where?" Luan asked.

Shortly thereafter, Benny and Luan were dancing out in the school yard behind the gymnasium, under the bright moonlight. Although they could still hear the music playing from within, they paid no attention to it; instead, Benny had begun serenading Luan, turning the moment into their own, personal Astaire & Rogers number:

_Heaven, I'm in Heaven_  
_And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak_  
_And I seem to find the happiness I seek_  
_When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

_Heaven, I'm in Heaven_  
_And the cares that hung around me through the week_  
_Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak_  
_When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

Unbeknownst to the two love birds, other students were slowly beginning to gather around by the open double doors, watching them waltz the night away. When word was quickly spreading through-out the rest of the gymnasium, the D.J. decided to pause the music he was already playing to find a more appropriate selection; Benny, meanwhile, continued serenading Luan:

_Oh, I love to go out fishing_  
_In a river or a creek_  
_But, I don't enjoy it half as much_  
_As dancing cheek to cheek_

Suddenly, Fred Astaire's voice was being broadcasted out into the school yard, accompanying Benny, while also taking he and Luan by surprise:

_Dance with me_  
_I want my arm about you_  
_The charm about you_  
_Will carry me through to Heaven_

The two of them noticed they drew a crowd of spectators, who were admiring their little romantic moment outside; the two love birds blushed lightly over now knowing they were being watched.

_Heaven, I'm in Heaven_  
_And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak_  
_And I seem to find the happiness I seek_  
_When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

Benny slowly dipped Luan, as the two received applause from all who had gathered to watch them; all of the applause and cheers they have received together in their school plays, or their own separate performing ventures, amounted to nothing compared to the applause they were receiving now just for simply dancing together.

"I do believe we have found this year's King and Queen of the Royal Woods High Spring Dance!" Principal Jones exclaimed, while a confused and surprised Benny and Luan were quickly ushered back into the gymnasium.

Brought into the middle of the dance floor, with a big spotlight shining down on them, Principal Jones took the D.J.'s microphone to make the formal announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting this year's King and Queen of the Royal Woods High Spring Dance: Mr. Benjamin Stein, and Miss Luan Loud!"

Benny and Luan received even more applause and cheers; one vice principal placed a crown on Benny's head, and presented him with a scepter; another vice principal placed a tiara on Luan's head, and presented her with a bouquet of roses. Red-faced and lightly sweating from the overwhelming honor, all Benny and Luan could do was stand and give off awkward smiles at the crowd of other students and faculty applauding and cheering for them. Luan spotted Sam and Luna in the crowd; Luna was absolutely beaming, applauding harder and with more enthusiasm than anyone else, while bragging to everyone around her, "That's my sister! That's my little sister, yo!" which made Luan smile even more. She then took notice of Maggie standing among the crowd, looking completely emotionless and solemn. Luan's smile became even more crooked and awkward as she looked out at Maggie's stoned-cold face, but the emo teen slowly started smiling, and eventually began applauding as well - genuinely happy for her friend's special honor with her special someone - which made Luan's smile relax. The applause and cheering seemed like it lasted forever, but through it all, Benny and Luan just looked at each other with sparkles in their eyes and rosiness in their cheeks - their first serious date turned out even better and more special than either of them could have possibly dreamed of; it truly was a night to remember.


End file.
